New reports are saying that the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) regional economy is finally making a comeback after a long and intense recession. Given that the region is by far one of the poorest in the world, it’s good to see that they are making positive growth. This growth is a result of greater political stability in East Africa, boosting growing economies in Angola and Ethiopia, as well as larger contributors like Nigeria and South Africa. Many countries in SSA have agreed to regional integration that will better support intraregional trade rather than exporting to other continents. This new kickstart to the regional economy has come about fairly recently, and may coincide with the foreign investments from China into African industries. If this is the case, the United States will most likely continue their trade war against China as a reaction to the Chinese invasion on their realm of influence. This could mean greater tariffs on Chinese goods, and more foreign investment by the American government and MNC’s to push back into the region. That being said, the countries of SSA are seemingly recovering well and many leaders are forming partnerships for international trade that will boost regional economies and increase GDPs. Whether or not the GDP growth will translate into an increase in GDP per capita, that has yet to be seen. While many policymakers are expanding trade agreements, there is little mention of what they are doing to benefit individual industries and businesses that are the structure of their economy. If they fail to help the individual citizens, it is incredibly likely that their will be renewed instability. Depending on the policies that are created and how the benefit the average citizen, an increased GDP per capita would be the best measure of growth in a slowly recovering region.
