Africa’s economic growth will stabilise at 4% over the next two years, and inflation will slow as the continent rebounds from a pandemic-induced slump and external shocks including the Ukraine war, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). While Africa avoided some of the worst health impacts of COVID-19, many countries were hit hard by the economic fallout. And an initial 2021 recovery from the first pandemic shocks was hampered by rising inflation, spiking food prices and tightening global monetary policy last year. Africa’s gross domestic product growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in 2022 from 4.8 per cent in 2021. But in its Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook published on Thursday, the bank projected growth will accelerate to 4.0 per cent this year and 3.9 per cent in 2024, outstripping world averages.
