Monitoring
The African Development Bank reports that Africa’s economic growth is expected to reach 3.9% in 2025 and 4% in 2026.
In its 2025 Economic Outlook report for Africa, issued during the bank’s annual meetings running until May 30 in Abidjan, the bank noted, “These forecasts represent downward revisions of 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points compared to the latest projections, attributed to the impact of weakened global economic activity, which is expected to affect African exports.”
The same source added that despite the shocks caused by tariffs and uncertainties, 21 African countries are still projected to experience production growth exceeding 5% in 2025.
These positive trends reflect the resilience of some African economies despite multiple shocks, decreasing public development assistance, and declining external financial flows.
Thus, the projected growth rates in Africa for 2025 and 2026 will surpass the global average and that of certain regions, excluding emerging and developing Asia.
The bank further reported that the expected growth of real GDP per capita in Africa recorded a slight increase, rising from 0.7% in 2023 to 0.9% in 2024, and expected to reach 1.5% in 2025 and 1.7% in 2026.
These figures represent downward revisions compared to the February 2025 expectations, which estimated 1.8% growth for 2025 and 2.2% for 2026.
Prospects for per capita GDP growth will evolve depending on the intensity of ongoing shocks. Achieving high and resilient economic growth rates should be a strategic priority for African nations to foster stronger economic growth and accelerate poverty reduction.
