By Kofi Ahovi
The World Bank would assist countries hosting refugees to take care of them, Madam Sara Cliffe, Director of World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report, said through a video conference in Accra last week.
Answering questions during a video press conference from Washington DC, she said exodus of refugees into countries had some negative effects on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which needed the concerted efforts of all and sundry to help address.
The video press conference connected to about 21 African countries was a prelude to the launching of the World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report scheduled for today Monday, April 11, 2011.
Madam Cliffe was answering a question from Ghana as to measures being instituted by the Bank to help refugees especially from Cote d’Ivoire to Ghana, which would have a negative impact on the country’s economy.
She said the World Bank had always been interested in supporting areas of development in most parts of the world where people were displaced by disasters and epidemics.
However, Madam Cliffe did not mention any specific amount that the Bank had set aside for such assistance.
In a separate development, the World banks said Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into Africa as at the end of 2010 were $32 billion.
According to the World Bank, inflows of FDIs to the continent increased by 6% from 2008 due to price increases of commodities such as metal, oil and mineral exports.
“The external drivers of growth in 2010 included increased commodity prices particularly for metal, mineral and oil exporters; increased inflows of foreign direct investment, the region attracted $32billion in FDI in 2010, a 6% increase from 2008”, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director, World Bank said in a speech she delivered at the MIT-Sloan School Africa Business Conference, in the US recently.
In Ghana, inflows of FDIs as at early December 2010 were estimated at over $1.3 billion of which the oil sector accounted for a significant portion – $550 million, the Bank of Ghana said at its last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on December 10, 2010.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala also indicated in her speech that sub Sahara Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 4.7% in 2010 as against 1.3% in 2009.
“Growth in Sub Saharan Africa rebounded strongly in 2010 with its GDP estimated to have expanded by 4.7% in 2010, up from the 1.3% growth recorded in 2009 and just shy of its pre-crisis average growth of 5%”, she indicated.
Despite the struggling of global economy to fully recover, the World Bank however expects growth in Africa to remain strong in 2011 and 2012 with 5.3% and 5.5% respectively, “making Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa, one of the fastest growing regions.”
The World Bank would assist countries hosting refugees to take care of them, Madam Sara Cliffe, Director of World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report, said through a video conference in Accra last week.
Answering questions during a video press conference from Washington DC, she said exodus of refugees into countries had some negative effects on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which needed the concerted efforts of all and sundry to help address.
The video press conference connected to about 21 African countries was a prelude to the launching of the World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report scheduled for today Monday, April 11, 2011.
Madam Cliffe was answering a question from Ghana as to measures being instituted by the Bank to help refugees especially from Cote d’Ivoire to Ghana, which would have a negative impact on the country’s economy.
She said the World Bank had always been interested in supporting areas of development in most parts of the world where people were displaced by disasters and epidemics.
However, Madam Cliffe did not mention any specific amount that the Bank had set aside for such assistance.
In a separate development, the World banks said Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into Africa as at the end of 2010 were $32 billion.
According to the World Bank, inflows of FDIs to the continent increased by 6% from 2008 due to price increases of commodities such as metal, oil and mineral exports.
“The external drivers of growth in 2010 included increased commodity prices particularly for metal, mineral and oil exporters; increased inflows of foreign direct investment, the region attracted $32billion in FDI in 2010, a 6% increase from 2008”, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director, World Bank said in a speech she delivered at the MIT-Sloan School Africa Business Conference, in the US recently.
In Ghana, inflows of FDIs as at early December 2010 were estimated at over $1.3 billion of which the oil sector accounted for a significant portion – $550 million, the Bank of Ghana said at its last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on December 10, 2010.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala also indicated in her speech that sub Sahara Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 4.7% in 2010 as against 1.3% in 2009.
“Growth in Sub Saharan Africa rebounded strongly in 2010 with its GDP estimated to have expanded by 4.7% in 2010, up from the 1.3% growth recorded in 2009 and just shy of its pre-crisis average growth of 5%”, she indicated.
Despite the struggling of global economy to fully recover, the World Bank however expects growth in Africa to remain strong in 2011 and 2012 with 5.3% and 5.5% respectively, “making Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa, one of the fastest growing regions.”
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