Africa Dominates List of World’s 20 Fastest-Growing Economies
By African Development Bank
Published February 20, 2024
Africa will account for 11 of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies in 2024.
Overall, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the continent is expected to average 3.8% and 4.2% in 2024 and 2025, respectively. This is higher than projected global averages of 2.9% and 3.2%, African Development Bank (AfDB) says in its latest Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (MEO).
The top 11 African countries projected to experience strong economic performance forecast 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 at 6%.
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“Despite the challenging global and regional economic environment, 15 African countries have posted output expansions of more than 5%,” AfDB President Dr Akinwumi Adesina says, calling for larger pools of financing and several policy interventions to further boost Africa’s growth.
Africa’s MEO, a biannual publication released in the first and third quarters of every year, complements the existing African Economic Outlook (AEO), which focuses on key emerging policy issues relevant to the continent’s development.
The MEO report provides an up-to-date evidence-based assessment of the continent’s recent macroeconomic performance and short-to-medium-term outlook amid dynamic global economic developments.
The latest report calls for cautious optimism given the challenges posed by global and regional risks. These risks include rising geopolitical tensions, increased regional conflicts, and political instability—all of which could disrupt trade and investment flows, and perpetuate inflationary pressures.
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Adesina emphasises that fiscal deficits have improved, as faster-than-expected recovery from the pandemic helped shore up revenue.
“This has led to a stabilisation of the average fiscal deficit at 4.9% in 2023, like 2022, but significantly less than the 6.9% average fiscal deficit of 2020. The stabilisation is also due to the fiscal consolidation measures, especially in countries with elevated risks of debt distress,” Adesina says.
He cautions that with the global economy mired in uncertainty, the fiscal positions of the African continent will continue to be vulnerable to global shocks.
The report shows that the medium-term growth outlook for the continent’s five regions is slowly improving, a pointer to the continued resilience of Africa’s economies.
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Presenting the key findings of the report, AfDB’s Chief Economist and Vice President, Kevin Urama, says: “Growth in Africa’s top-performing economies has benefitted from a range of factors, including declining commodity dependence through economic diversification, increasing strategic investment in key growth sectors, and rising both public and private consumption, as well as positive developments in key export markets. Africa’s economic growth is projected to regain moderate strength as long as the global economy remains resilient, disinflation continues, investment in infrastructure projects remains buoyant, and progress is sustained on debt restructuring and fiscal consolidation.”
“The future of Africa rests on economic integration. Our small economies are not competitive in the global market. A healthy internal African trade market can ensure value-added and intra-African production of manufactured goods,” says Ambassador Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals with African Union Commission.
He says the MEO forecast, and recommendations will be made available to African heads of state and that the report will be useful when the African Union makes its proposals to the G20- an informal gathering of many of the world’s largest economies to which the African Union was admitted last year.
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The improved growth figure for 2024 reflects concerted efforts by the continent’s policymakers to drive economic diversification strategies focused on increased investment in key growth sectors, as well as the implementation of domestic policies aimed at consolidating fiscal positions and reversing the increase in the cost of living and boosting private consumption.
Up to 41 countries across the continent will in 2024 achieve an economic growth rate of 3.8%, and in 13 of them, growth will be more than 1 percentage point higher than in 2023.
