Economy to pick up this year

Sub-Saharan Africa's (SAA) growth is expected to pick up this year, though the region is not yet out of the woods. According to the latest survey by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the region's economy will grow by 2.7 per cent this year and 3.5 per cent next year, compared to 1.3 per cent last year.

The global lender however noted that SAA outlook "remains challenging".

"Growth is projected to rise in 2017 and 2018, but will barely return to positive territory in per capita terms this year for the region as a whole, and would remain negative for about a third of the countries in the region," said the IMF in its July World Economic Outlook for 2017.

It projected global output to grow by 3.5 per cent this year, and 3.6 per cent next year, when growth in advanced economies in the Eurozone are expected to slow down.

South, Africa, Nigeria, Angola and commodity exporters were asked to find ways of living with this reality. "Commodity exporters should continue adjusting to lower revenues, while diversifying their sources of growth over time," read the report.

Kenya's outlook has however been promising due to its diversified economy. The country's GDP grew by 5.8 per cent last year - above Africa's average.