ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, April 2/APO Group: Despite the ongoing regional and global headwinds, Africa continues to demonstrate impressive resilience and maintains its status as a global growth frontier. This is according to the 2026 Africa Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (MEO) report, released by the African Development Bank Group on March 30, at its headquarters in Abidjan.
The report reveals that Africa has outpaced the global average in 2025 as real GDP surged to 4.2 percent, up from 3.1 per cent in 2024, comfortably eclipsing the 3.1 percent world average.
Another key finding is the “broad-based” surge, with growth exceeding 5 per cent in 22 African countries, and topping 7 per cent in six, bolstered by easing inflationary pressures, improved macroeconomic management and favourable agricultural conditions.
Key highlights include:
- Africa’s real GDP growth is projected to stabilise at 4.3 percent in 2026 and grow further to 4.5 percent in 2027.
- 12 of the 20 fastest-growing economies in the world in 2025 were African.
- In 2025, East Africa maintained its lead as the continent’s fastest-growing region (posting 6.4 percent GDP growth), with its expansion driven by the surge in growth performances of 9.8 percent in Ethiopia, 7.5 percent in Rwanda, and 6.4 percent in Uganda.
- Africa’s GDP per capita growth rose from 0.9 percent in 2023 to 1.1 percent in 2024 and 1.9 percent in 2025, but still remains too low to propel rapid poverty reduction.
- Inflation is declining, with average inflation estimated at 13.6 percent in 2025, down from 21.8 percent in 2024, coupled with further reductions projected for 2026 and 2027.
- Foreign direct investment rebounded sharply in 2024, rising by more than 75 percent to reach USD97 billion.
- Remittance flows rebounded strongly in 2024, rising by more than 14 percent to USD104.6 billion—offsetting the 6 percent decline recorded in 2023 and making remittances the largest single source of external non-debt financing, surpassing foreign portfolio investment.
At the launch, the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Sidi Ould Tah, underscored that the continent faces an “important moment when the world is changing, not always in favour of the African continent.” Citing a difficult landscape of increasing geopolitical fragmentation, trade tensions, and declining global development finance flows, Dr Ould Tah positioned the Bank Group’s Four Cardinal Points agenda as a vital strategic shield, explaining that “each one speaks directly to the challenges this Macro Economic Outlook report has identified and quantified.”
In light of recent developments in the Middle East, Dr Ould Tah noted that the 2026 MEO analysis and projections “were prepared before the current crisis” began. He added that the Bank Group and partners, including the United Nations Development Programme, are currently assessing the potential consequences of the crisis on the continent.
In his detailed presentation, the Bank Group Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, Prof Kevin Urama, has expressed optimism that the current crisis would have a limited impact on Africa’s macroeconomic landscape in 2026.
“Africa has held strong in previous shocks, and has the capacity to bounce back after, provided we do not panic and we instead apply the right policy levers,” he said. “In our estimates, if the crisis lasts beyond three months, it might cause a dip of 0.2 percentage points in Africa’s economic growth rate in 2026.”
