Boosting consumption in East Africa
Experts have been asking East African countries to put an effort on implementing policies that boost consumer demand, arguing that such initiatives would reduce inflationary pressures as the sub Saharan economies continues to grow. Most developing countries in Africa are not well prepared to handle challenges emanating externally. In some countries like Zimbabwe and Sudan there has been continued demand boosting measures that has proved counterproductive and the end result is inflationary pressures. A strong rebound in capital inflows to Africa induced by protracted rounds of quantitative easing in the United States has amplified credit and asset price risks. The good news is that incoming Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen has promised not to scale bond buying which means sub Saharan countries will continue to enjoy the growth. The forecasts of the continent’s economies are expected to grow by an average 5% next year. Various studies attributes the steady economic growth ...