The African Development Bank Group announced in its latest Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (MEO) report that Africa will host eleven of the world’s 20 fastest growing economies in 2024.
The continent’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is forecasted to average 3.8% in 2024 and 4.2% in 2025, surpassing the projected global averages of 2.9% and 3.2%, respectively.
Africa is poised to maintain its position as the second-fastest-growing region after Asia.
The 11 fastest growing economies and their projected growth rate for 2024 are;
- Niger – 11.2%
- Senegal – 8.2%
- Libya – 7.9%
- Rwanda – 7.2%
- Cote d’Ivoire – 6.8%
- Ethiopia – 6.7%
- Benin – 6.4%
- Djibouti – 6.2%
- Tanzania – 6.1%
- Togo – 6% and
- Uganda – 6%.
Speaking on the report, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) called for more financing in the face of the positive outlook noting that 15 African countries already posted a growth rate above 5%.
He stated, “Despite the challenging global and regional economic environment, 15 African countries have posted output expansions of more than 5%,”
Across the five regions in Africa, the bank projected East Africa to experience the fastest economic growth in 2024 at 5.1% followed by West Africa at 4.0%.
On the other hand, North and Central Africa are expected to grow at 3.9% and 3.5% respectively while Southern Africa will see the weakest growth at 2.2% in 2024.
While the report cast a bright light on Africa, the continent still grapples with several risks such as inflation, currency depreciation, elevated debt levels, and political risks with the rise of coups across the Sahel.
Inflation continues to pose a threat to Africa’s population owing to monetary policy tightening across Europe and the United States, geopolitical tensions in Europe and the Middle east leading to stress in supply chains of energy and agricultural products.
By the end of 2022, around 19 African countries posted double-digit inflation rates leading to reduction in consumer spending thereby plunging vulnerable populations deep into poverty. The figure remained unchanged in 2023. The continent averaged around 17.3% inflation in 2023.
In the previous year, many African countries experienced severe currency depreciation with commodity exporters the most vulnerable. This was primarily due to hawkish inflation targeting monetary policies in the United States.
Political risks due to internal conflicts and coups also threaten the economic growth across the continent. Last year, the continent saw coups in Niger and Gabon.
However, since 2020 putschist have struck 9 times with varying degrees of success mainly across the Sahel region.
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