19th January, 2023
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina says the bank has projected a growth of 4% in Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2023 and 2024.
Adesina made the revelation at the virtual inauguration of the maiden edition of 2023 Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook on Thursday in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
He said this was higher than the world averages of 2.7 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.
He also said the bank’s estimates showed that Africa’s average real GDP growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in 2022.
“In spite of the challenging external environment, Africa has demonstrated continued resilience with all but one country maintaining positive growth in 2022 and with outlooks stable for 2023 and 2024.
“Africa’s GDP growth is projected to average about four per cent in 2023 and 2024, higher than the projected world averages of 2.7 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively.”
Furthermore, the AfDB president said there were top five performing African countries that were projected to grow by more than 5.5 per cent.
“The top five performing African countries before the COVID-19 pandemic are projected to grow by more than 5.5 per cent and could reclaim their position among the world’s top 10 fastest growing economies in 2023 to 2024.”
The countries include Libya at 12.9 per cent; Niger at 9.6 per cent; Senegal at 9.4 per cent; Rwanda at 7.9 per cent; and Côte d’Ivoire at 7.1 per cent.
However, Adesina said the projected stability in medium-term growth in Africa largely reflected the benefits of policy support in the continent.
He also said it reflected in global efforts to mitigate the impacts of external shocks and rising uncertainty, and stable growth in Asia, one of Africa’s main trading partners.
Moreover, he said the welcome recovery and the economic resilience of African economies should be with cautious optimism.
Furthermore, he said the 2023 edition of Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook recognised the challenges that African economies faced in navigating the multiple global risks.
(NAN)
