A World Bank global economic prospect report has ranked Rwanda as the highest growing economy in East Africa Community.
The report forecasts Rwanda to grow at 7.5% the highest in the region followed by Tanzania at 6.8 %, Kenya at 4.9 % and Burundi at 4.3%.
Uganda is expected to grow at 6.2%, according to the forecast for 2013 released in Washington yesterday.
Sub Saharan Africa, the World Bank says in 2012 posted GDP growth of 4.6%, notwithstanding the slowdown in the global economy.
“Indeed, excluding the region’s largest and most globally integrated economy – South Africa, GDP growth in the region was at a strong of 5.8% in 2012, with a third of the countries in the region growing by at least 6 per cent,” reads part of the report.
The growth is explained by the robust domestic demand, steady remittance flows and increased export volumes resulting from an increase in investment flows to the natural resource sector in 2012.
The report says that economic activity was similarly diverse in the region (Sub Saharan), reflecting robust growth prospects in the region thus raising private capital flows by 3.3 per cent to $54.5 billion in 2012.
Exports grew strongly in the first half of the year; however, a sharp deceleration of industrial commodities and oil exports occurred in the third quarter.
Tourism, a key driver of growth in the region, remained robust, with strong tourist arrivals in many of the popular destinations, including South Africa, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Cape Verde.
Dr Jacob Opolot, Bank of Uganda director research said that the World Bank estimate were good for Uganda because it is above the forecast BoU has made of 5 per cent in the 2012/13 fiscal.