Africa's brisk economic growth over the past decade has been consumer driven, a much-hyped trend that masks the uncomfortable fact that the region remains far too reliant on commodities. Sub-Saharan Africa's growth has been second only to Asia and cracked along at 5.8 percent last year, according to a World Bank estimate, if South Africa, the continent's biggest economy, is excluded. About two-thirds of growth in the past decade has been driven by domestic demand, which has been stoked by a number of factors including the continent's fast-growing and young population. Consumption has had...
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