African Bank: Nationalisation not a good idea

In a speech, Mthuli Ncube said the unrest in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia will probably reduce economic growth in North Africa this year to 0.7% from 4.7% last year. Overall, Africa's growth is estimated at 3.7% in 2011, down from 4.9% last year.

Further south, Ncube said economies have been affected by a drop in money sent home by Africans from elsewhere on the continent who had been working in North Africa. Niger, for example, had 200 000 citizens working in oil-rich Libya, according to bank statistics.

Sub-Saharan African countries with high unemployment should also be wary, Ncube said. He noted in an interview with the Associated Press after his speech on Monday that former South African president Thabo Mbeki -- which is struggling to cut unemployment, particularly among the young -- was ousted in 2008 by his own African National Congress in campaign led by the party's youth wing. That might have been democratic South Africa's version of upheavals in the north, Ncube said.

South Africa, the continent's strongest economy, has suffered from the global recession more than other African economies, and is recovering more slowly, according to the annual economic outlook the African Development Bank released on Monday. Its GDP is expected to grow 3.6% this year.