[ti:African Economies Expected to Continue Growing Strongly] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report. [00:05.21]International economists say [00:08.41]they are hopeful about Africa's economy. [00:11.86]They say economic growth on the continent [00:15.57]will increase by as much as five or six percent [00:19.97]over the next two years. [00:22.45]That would be the continent's highest growth rate [00:26.21]since the worldwide economic recession in 2009. [00:31.38]Economic experts say the growth is partly because [00:37.59]governments have established policies [00:40.47]inviting to foreign investors. [00:43.28]They say increased trade among African nations [00:47.66]is also growing the continent's economy. [00:51.32]And the experts say the growth is widespread. [00:56.18]They made the observations [00:59.22]in the African Economic Outlook 2014 report. [01:03.97]The African Development Bank, [01:07.46]the United Nations Development Program [01:10.74]and the OECD Development Center [01:14.05]produced the report together. [01:16.29]Angela Lusigi is a U. N. Development Program economist [01:22.89]and policy adviser for Africa. [01:25.64]"A lot of people think growth in Africa, [01:28.73]they think the only driven by mineral wealth [01:32.23]or oil-exporting countries, [01:34.43]but we find now the report that even countries [01:36.92]that are not resource rich are still growing effectively. [01:40.87]This is mainly because of their agricultural sector [01:43.82]but also growth in services [including tourism] [01:45.67]and a little in manufacturing," said Lusigi. [01:47.57]The report says Africa's top foreign trade partner is Europe. [01:53.16]About 40 percent of African trade is with European nations. [01:58.73]25 percent is with Asian countries [02:03.48]and about 12 percent is with North America. [02:07.72]The report says African countries traded $81 million [02:14.18]worth of goods among themselves in 2012. [02:18.28]Much of it is in the making of clothing, leather, building material, [02:24.72]farm tools and wood products like furniture. [02:29.22]Angela Lusigi says there¡¯s strong demand in Africa [02:35.12]for manufactured goods. [02:37.11]These include television sets, telephones and other mobile technology. [02:43.75]She says many of these products can be made in Africa. [02:50.08]The report says East and West Africa are leading the economic expansion. [02:56.63]The report says low inflation especially in energy [03:02.44]and food prices is helping economic growth in Africa. [03:07.19]And it says African nations have put in place careful economic policies [03:14.41]to cut spending and improve tax collection. [03:17.95]However, the report notes that official development assistance [03:23.98]remains an important support for poor countries [03:28.73]that lack enough foreign direct investment. [03:31.92]Total official development assistance is estimated to be $55 billion. [03:39.62]And that's the VOA Learning English Economics Report. [03:44.90]You can find more stories about economics [03:49.08]and other subjects online on our website as well. I'm Mario Ritter.