The bank said, in a report, that under a best-case scenario African output would rise to $15-trillion in the next 50 years, from $1.7-trillion(P7.1trillion) now. That projection- based on continent-wide average growth rates of 6% or more- would imply a trebling in annual per capita income to $5, 600, the Tunis-based bank said, underscoring the attraction of Africa's largely untapped commercial markets. Its worst-case view, based on annual growth of closer to 5% - similar to current levels of expansion - still resulted in average personal income of $5, 000.
Such figures are impressive when stacked up alongside the anaemic projections being hammered out for developed economies but look pedestrian compared with the nearly 10% growth rates charted for the likes of China, India or Southeast Asia. Much of Africa's pacy growth since the millennium started has been based on market liberalisation, high commodity prices and the spread of technologies like the mobile phone. However, in coming decades it is more likely to be driven by industrialisation and the swelling ranks of its urban workers.
