Central African Growth Analysis

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2

2. Average Consumption Share of Real GDP 3

3. Average Government Share of Real GDP 4

4. Average Investment Share of Real GDP 5

5. Average Openness to International Trade 6

6. Average Real Growth of GDP per capita 11

7. Conclusion 12

8. Bibliography

9. List of Tables

1. Introduction

This paper explores the economic performance empirically in the Central African region for the period 1971-2003. A comparative evaluation is offered between the least open economy (DRC) in the region, the most open economy in the region (Gabon), the African continent, Northern America and the Central African region itself. This evaluation aims to discuss economic variables that are relevant to understanding and assessing economic performance; whereupon a conclusion will be presented on the economic investigation.

The variables of interest are as follows: openness; real GDP growth per capita; average consumption, average government spending and average investment as proportion of GDP per capita. The data used in the study was gathered from the Penn World Table (Version 6.2). After inspection the year 1970 was excluded from the period of the analysis, due to missing values. The Central African reference group was also constrained to the following countries: Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sao Tome and Principe, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Chad. Angola was removed from this group due to inadequacies in the dataset. The Northern American faction includes: Bermuda, Canada and the United States.

2. Average Consumption Share of Real GDP

Consumption as percentage of real GDP has steadily increased in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as Figure 1 illustrates. It did however drop considerably from 2002 (83.4%) to 2003 (53.94%) creating the impression that 2003 might be an abnormal outlier in the dataset. Gabon demonstrated a strong positive trend, amidst a great deal...