…Expresses Concern About African Govts’ Attainment Of SDGs By 2030
The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Thursday reported that African economies remained resilient, despite challenges that are testing economies worldwide.
The development finance institution, in its latest ‘African Economic Outlook’ with the theme “Driving Africa’s Transformation: The Reform of the Global Financial Architecture”, projected that 41 countries on the continent would experience stronger growth rates in 2024 than they did in 2023.
The report unveiled at the Bank’s Annual Meetings in Nairobi, described Africa’s growth potential as ‘remarkable’ and that the continent will retain its 2023 ranking as the second fastest-growing region after developing Asia in 2024 and 2025.
The AfDB Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said while the Bank remained proud of the growth projections of many African countries as reflected in the report, it was not unmindful of the challenges in the various economies.
He said: “Africa’s future is bright, but need to make sure we tackle governance, transparency, accountability, and management of our natural capital. We need to make sure resources are used for the benefit of the people of this continent… The kind of resilience we are talking about cannot happen unless we deal with the issue of climate change.
“We must make sure we are investing in our young people—in their skills, talents, entrepreneurship, and giving them tools. That is why I am excited about what we are doing with the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks”, he added.
The report cautioned that Africa was off track to meet almost all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, stressing that unless corrective action is taken, including to reverse the steepening poverty curve, Africa will be home to almost 9 out of 10 (or 87%) of the world’s extreme poor by 2030.
According to the bank’s AEO, the rebound in Africa’s average growth includes a rise to 3.7% in 2024 and 4.3% in 2025, exceeding the projected global average of 3.2%. Of this figure, 17 African economies are projected to grow by more than 5% in 2024. The number could rise to 24 in 2025, as the pace of growth accelerates.
This growth trajectory is expected to surpass pre-2023 levels, with East Africa leading as the fastest-growing region (up to 3.4 percentage points). Other regions are also projected to witness moderate to robust growth.
In a presentation, the AfDB Chief Economist and Vice President, Prof Kevin Chika Urama, underscored why strategic policies and firm political commitment are key to the effective use of resource wealth for domestic revenue generation.
He also described hard infrastructure, including roads, railways, and bridges, and soft infrastructure, including knowledge and institutional governance capacity, as “two wings of an aircraft”.
The banker quipped: “Investing in productive infrastructure is key to accelerating Africa’s structural transformation.”
On growth performance and outlook by region, the report indicated that growth prospects varied across Africa’s regions, reflecting differences in economic structure, commodity dependence, and policies.
In East Africa, the continent’s fastest-growing region, the report projected that the region would see real GDP growth rising from an estimated 1.5% in 2023 to 4.9% in 2024 and 5.7% in 2025.
According to the AfDB, the downward revision of 0.2 percentage point for 2024 compared with the forecast in the January 2024 Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (MEO) is due to larger-than-expected contractions in Sudan and South Sudan following the ongoing conflict in the former.
The report further projected: “Growth in Central Africa is forecast to moderate from 4.3% in 2023 to 4.1% in 2024 before improving strongly to 4.7% in 2025. The upgraded forecast is due to expectations of stronger growth in Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of favourable metal prices.
“Growth is projected to pick up in West Africa, rising from an estimated 3.6% in 2023 to 4.2% in 2024 and consolidating at 4.4% the following year. This is an upgrade of 0.3 percentage point for 2024 over the January MEO 2024 projections, reflecting stronger growth in the region’s large economies—Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal.
“In North Africa, growth is projected to decline from an estimated 4.1% in 2023 to 3.6% in 2024 and 4.2% in 2025, with a downward revision of 0.3 percentage point for 2024 from the January 2024 MEO. Except for Libya and Mauritania, growth has been revised downward for all other countries in the region.
“Growth in Southern Africa is projected to pick up slightly from an estimated 1.6% in 2023 to 2.2% in 2024 and firm up to 2.7% in 2025. The growth rates for 2024 and 2025 show an upgrade of 0.1 percentage point over the January 2024 projections, mainly reflecting a 0.7 percentage point increase in South Africa’s projected growth. Due to South Africa’s larger weight in the region, the upgraded growth forecast offset the combined effect of downward revisions in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, and Zimbabwe”, it added.
