Researcher: European crisis hit Africa hard

The European sovereign debt crisis has had serious repercussions on the African economy, a researcher has said.

Mr Joseph Djobgenou, the director of the African Centre for Research and Studies in Law and Judicial Institutions, said that Africa had not been spared by the financial crisis.

"It has been affected both with the shortage of private capital and the reduction of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)," he explained.

However, the researcher from Benin said some countries had been affected more than others on the continent.

"This is the case of South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and, to some extent, the North African states which have a strong financial and economic link with the West," he revealed.

He said Nigeria, which has just completed restructuring its banking sector under the guidance of the central bank, was the most affected country in the West African region.

"As for the countries in the franc zone, they have been protected due to the archaic nature of their banking system. Their economies are less banked as those in the Maghreb and in southern Africa. The banks in this zone, especially in the Central African region, are liquid and this liquidity, which is always a flaw in normal times, has become a protection," the expert said.