Sub-Saharan Africa’S Economy Grows Fastest, 4.1% this Year – World Bank

4
Sub-Saharan Africa'S Economy Grows Fastest, 4.1% this Year - World Bank
Sub-Saharan Africa'S Economy Grows Fastest, 4.1% this Year - World Bank

Africa-Press – Cape verde. The World Bank forecasts that the economy of sub-Saharan Africa will grow from 3.2% last year to 4.1% this year, with Guinea-Bissau being the Portuguese-speaking country with the largest expansion, of 5%.

“Growth in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be 4.1% this year and 4.3% in 2026, with financial conditions improving, along with a decline in inflation”, says the World Bank in the report on the World Economic Prospects released this Thursday.

In the document, World Bank economists say that economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa improved, from 2.9% in 2023, to 3.2% last year, still 0.3 points below the forecast made in June.

This worse-than-expected performance reflects “the violent conflict in Sudan and specific challenges in some countries that influenced last year’s economic recovery”.

Growth in the region’s two largest economies, Nigeria and South Africa, is expected to rise to an average of 2.2% in 2024, supported by an improvement in the southern African country’s electricity supply and an increase in oil production in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest producer.

Inflation, which has been at historically high levels since the Covid-19 pandemic, has followed a mixed trajectory across the region, but most countries are already showing a slowdown in price growth, although food inflation remains high.

“Nevertheless, strong price increases have persisted in some of the region’s large economies, reflecting currency depreciations,” the report reads, citing the cases of Ethiopia, Nigeria and Angola, which faced inflation close to 30% last year.

In a context of slowing inflation, “a gradual easing of interest rates should boost private consumption and investment in many countries in the region,” says the World Bank.

The institution warns, once again, that “the limited budgetary space resulting from high debt levels and rising borrowing costs will continue to weigh on public spending across the region”.

The region is also facing a low level of per capita income growth, that is, the distribution of wealth produced in the country by the number of citizens.

“Per capita income in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow, on average, by 1.7% per year in 2025 and 2026, which is below the average growth rate of emerging markets and developing economies, even excluding China and India”, highlight the World Bank economists.

In Angola, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic, per capita income is expected to decrease this year and next, they say.

“Even by 2026, GDP per capita in about 30% of the region’s economies will not have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, thus leaving these economies with several years of per capita income growth and poverty reduction behind,” says the World Bank.

For Portuguese-speaking African countries, this multilateral financial institution predicts growth of 5% in Guinea-Bissau this year and next, forecasting expansion of 4.9% and 4.8% in Cape Verde, 4% in Mozambique and 2.9% in Angola, while São Tomé and Príncipe is expected to register growth of 3.3% and 3.6% in 2025 and 2026.

Equatorial Guinea, the most recent country to gain Portuguese-speaking status, will enter recession again this year, with negative growth of 4.4%, which will fall by a further 0.8% in 2026, reversing the 4.7% growth recorded last year.

For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here