Sub-Saharan African economies grew by 4.8 percent in 2004 for the first time exceeding the annual global growth rate of 4.1 percent in the year, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported on Sunday.

A World Bank report was quoted as saying that 20 out of the 48 sub-Saharan African countries grew at a rate of more than 5 percent in 2004.

Growth in the oil producing countries of Nigeria, Angola, Chad and Sudan was pushed up by the recent rise in oil exports and the oil price boom, said the report. But 15 non-oil producing countries have shown median growth rates of 5.3 percent since 1995 which the report says points to their potential for long-term growth.

"After many years, the continent is showing growth that could deliver much more poverty reduction than in the recent past," said World Bank Chief Economist Francois Bourguignon.

The world development indicators report, however, shows that sub-Saharan Africa still has the highest poverty rate in the world.

According to the report, the continent had 300 million people in 2002, about 44 percent of its population, living on less than one U.S. dollar a day that was more than a 100 percent increase from 139 million people in 1981.

On the contrary, the report pointed out that the population of people living in extreme poverty in East Asia fell by 580 million people to 12 percent of the population during the period.

It is currently projected that Africa's poverty rate will remain above 38 percent by 2015, far above the target of 22.3 percent set in the Millennium Development Goals. African countries suffering from conflict and political instability, such as Cote d' Ivoire and Eritrea or those left out of the commodity boom such as Niger and the Central African Republic, grew at less that two percent rate.

Such low growth rates combined with the regional population growth rate of 2.5 percent have limited the growth of the continent's per capita income to 1.6 percent since 2000, the World Bank report stated.

The report, however, pointed out that Africa's income growth rate over the past four years has been equal to or exceeded that of the high income countries and has exceeded growth in Latin America.

The report also pointed out that sub-Saharan Africa remains a high-cost, high-risk place for business, with the result being less investment, less employment, lower incomes and less competitiveness.

Doing business in Africa, the report said, cost about 20 percent to 40 percent more than in other regions of the developing world.

A survey of the business climate by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation in West Africa concluded that only two countries carried out business regulations reforms. In the whole continent, out of every three countries that improved regulations, the survey found out, one made it more burdensome.

Nigeria, Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa are listed as countries that have made progress in business reforms.

The report stressed that the whole continent needs to embark on massive efforts to provide infrastructure to reduce transportation costs and improve power supply.

According to the report, only 30 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's rural population has access to all-season roads, the lowest level in the world. In addition, the continent is most vulnerable in terms of water availability and food security.

Source: Xinhua