Bayo Akomolafe 
Africa is set to be the second-fastest growing region in the world after Asia in 2023-24, demonstrating the resilience of its economy despite dealing with multiple global shocks. But the projected growth will depend on global conditions and the continent’s ability to bolster its economic resilience, the African Development Bank’s 2023 African Economic Outlook report has found. The report forecasts that Africa will consolidate its post-Covid-19 recovery to 4.3 per cent GDP growth in 2024 from 3.8 per cent in 2022. Some 22 countries will record growth rates above five per cent, it says. It recommends robust policy actions, including incentivizing green industries and providing guarantees at scale to de-risk private sector investments in managing natural capital across the continent. The launch, attended by African leaders, experts and development partners, was one of the highlights of the Bank Group’s Annual Meetings in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. It was under the theme, Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth.
The Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, Prof. Kevin Urama, presented the re- port’s findings, outlining sev- eral potential policy actions for stimulating more private sec- tor financing for climate and green growth in Africa. These options include tap- ping into the expanding global and domestic private equity and venture capital appetite for African markets and “cautious- ly engaging with the emerging carbon markets and debt-for- climate swaps,” Urama said. Unveiling the 220-page re- port, African Development Bank Group President Akin- wumi Adesina said African countries must do more, in- cluding mobilizing more do- mestic resources and restruc- turing debt to withstand global headwinds.
“African economies are moving in the right direction,” Adesina said, noting that five of the six pre-pandemic top- performing economies are set to be back in the league of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies in 2023–2024. “But as we gather today, the world is facing multiple challenges, including climate change, inflation driven by higher prices of energy, com- modities, and disruption of supply chains due to the ongo- ing Russia-Ukraine war,” he said. The bank chief also pointed out that monetary tightening in the United States and Eu- rope has led to rising interest rates that have compounded debt service payments for Af- rican countries. During a panel discussion of the report, UK’s Minister of State and African Development Bank Group Governor Andrew Mitchell called for a review of the global financing architec- ture to unlock more green in- vestments in developing coun- tries, particularly Africa.
