REGIONAL
S N A P S H OT: M RU
ZO N E OV E RV I E W
Guinea
Ivory Coast
enerally, statistics on economic performance in Guinea are highly unreliable. This
is partly due to the fact that Guinea’s
economy continues to be plagued by
past misgovernance, pillaged public
good, and degradation of infrastructure.
s one of the world’s least developed countries (ranked 170th
of 187 counties on the Human Development Index 2012)1, Côte
d’Ivoire exhibits social marginalization
that is quantitatively and qualitatively
extensive and is clearly structurally ingrained.
Generally, statistics on the Guinean
economy are, if available, highly unreliable. To give just one example, the
son of ex-president Conté allegedly
had all the iron rails from the colonial
Conakry-Kankan railway ripped up
and sold as scrap metal to a Chinese
company. Stretches of road, such as
Macenta-Kissidougou and MamouKouroussa, are as bad as they have
been at any point in the past 25 years.
Almost all relevant indicators point to
severe problems, although violent conflict has made collection of valid data
difficult or impossible over the last decade. For instance, data on income inequality (producing a Gini coefficient of
0.41)2 refer to 2008.
Liberia
P
ost-conflict
reconstruction
measures continue to yield considerable gains in the rate of
GDP growth, with the IMF describing
Liberia’s economic outlook as favorable. It has projected an above average
real GDP growth rate (by Sub-Saharan African standards) of 8% – 9%
in the 2012 – 2013 period. GPD per
capita stood at US$298 in 2011 and
was projected to exceed the US$300
mark in 2012 – 2013. Projected GDP
growth for 2014 stands at 7.5% with
inflation at 8.04%.2 Liberia continued
its recovery from civil war by improving political, administrative and economic conditions.
The strategy of becoming a middle-income country (Vision Liberia Rising
2030) through private-sector development driven by investments in the
extractive industries and a broad based
public sector reform has been implemented in the medium-term Agenda
for Transformation 2012-2017 (PRSP
II). Liberia’s president, Ellen JohnsonSirleaf, continues to enjoy international support for her reform agenda,
while her approval ratings back home
suffer from a perceived gap between
proclaimed reform initiatives and limited tangible impact on the ground.
1.World Bank
2. Index Mundi
3. IMF
G
Given these handicaps, the economy
is showing considerable resilience.
Gross capital fo