Going for growth...

Awhile back, somebody posted this story. Maybe I wasn't crazy taking off and going to Africa. At least I'd be avoiding a recession. Perhaps. But Liberia is also in a very different context; one of a post-conflict country where output plummeted by 80 or 90 per cent during the height of the conflict. GDP per capita is still very low: estimates have it at less than US$300 (World Bank GNI per capita estimate for 2007 was $150). This compares to GNI per capita of about $46,000 in the US, $39,000 in Canada and $43,000 in the UK. (Although, some believe that Liberian GDP is currently understated, by perhaps a half. Even so, Liberia is still one of the poorest countries in the world.) A large proportion of the population live in extreme poverty.

The IMF have continually revised down their forecasts for the world economy this year. They'll probably revise them down again. Sub-Saharan Africa is no different from the rest of the world in that respect. Liberia, though expected to grown slightly faster than the SSA average, has also had their 2009 growth projections halved, from around 12% to 6%. The global downturn is having an impact wherever you are.