African economies edge forward

Two thirds of the world population still living extreme poverty live in Sub-Saharan Africa. But there are signs of economic progress in the region.

One is that the share of adults who have formal savings rose to 35 percent last year – up from 23 percent just three years earlier. The gamechanger here is mobile money, which enables secure financial transactions on a cellphone. Starting in Kenya in 2007, the technology has spread through the region which is otherwise largely cash-only economies. The upshot is that it makes saving money safer and more friction-free.

Another sign is that after a decade of debt crisis pressing down on the economies of many countries in the region, an improvement in Mozambique’s bond yields means that no Sub-Saharan nation is now officially in debt distress. Plenty of debt stress remains, but successful reform efforts and improving investor confidence have ratcheted down the pressure a bit.

Source: The Christian Science Monitor, Bloomberg