An economic forum backed by commercial lender, NCBA has projected economies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda will grow by upto 7 percent in 2024.
The forum was held under the theme “2024 Macroeconomic Outlook: Divergence Across economies and Sectors, ” sees GDP in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda rising by 6.1%, 5.7% and 7.0% respectively.
A rebound in agriculture, resilience of the services sector and government measures aimed at stimulating growth in priority sectors – including in agriculture and manufacturing-will drive most of this growth.
NCBA, however, acknowledged that the unprecedented pressures of the high cost of living are negatively impacting household balance sheets and would push more people into economic challenges.
NCBA Bank Group Managing Director, John Gachora, said despite the challenges posed by the high cost of living, significant progress continues to be made.
“We have seen the government roll out significant fiscal adjustments with an outlined multi-step fiscal consolidation path anchored at a target deficit of 3% of GDP and a medium-term revenue strategy necessary to achieve long-term growth. With these “growth positive” adjustments, we now expect GDP to grow at 4.9% in 2023 and maintain an upward trend into 2024. Overall, therefore, we, remain quite optimistic on 2024 prospects,” said Gachora.
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Deputy Governor Dr Susan Koech said, “Despite the global uncertainties, Kenya’s growth has remained strong and is expected to remain above the global and SSA averages in 2023 and 2024, pointing to the resilience and diversified nature of the economy. The economy grew by 4.8 percent in 2022, well above the sub-Saharan Africa region average growth of 4.0 percent and the global average of 3.5 percent. The CBK expects the economy to grow by 5.5 percent in 2023 and close to 6.0 percent in 2024.”
