Africa’s economic growth dipped to an average of 3.1% in 2023, down from the previous year’s 4.1%, as stated in a report released Thursday by the African Development Bank (AfDB), according to Xinhua. Rwanda bucks this trend, with projections showing its economy set to grow at 7.8% in 2023 and 8.1% in 2024.
The AfDB’s latest report, the African Economic Outlook 2024, attributes this decline to several factors, including high food and energy prices, subdued global demand affecting exports, climate change’s impact on agriculture and power generation, and sporadic political instability across some African nations.
The report notes that, despite these challenges, 15 countries managed growth rates of at least 5% in 2023.
While South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria saw decreased economic growth rates, over half of African countries experienced higher growth rates in 2023 compared to 2022. Notably, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eswatini, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan saw GDP growth rates increase by over 2 percentage points.
Kevin Chika Urama, the AfDB’s Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, expressed optimism, stating that despite global challenges, Africa is projected to remain resilient. The report forecasts Africa’s GDP growth to rise to 3.7% in 2024 and 4.3% in 2025, as the factors hindering growth in 2023 begin to dissipate.
Urama highlighted that East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa will likely lead the projected rebound in Africa’s average growth.
