Limping Lions: testing the Africa growth story

This week sees the first visit of the IMF country team to Ghana to provide policy and financial assistance to address the country’s fiscal and currency problems. Coming only months after the IMF was called on to provide assistance on similar issues in Zambia, this has led some commentators to question the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative of which Ghana had been one of key examples. Ghanaian events do flag an important fiscal and governance caveat to the African growth story. Understanding the Ghanaian experience can help investors generate a series of tests to look beyond headline growth, and gain a more nuanced understanding of the political and policy risks facing the continent’s star growth performers.