The Top five African countries expected to experience the fastest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in 2024 are Niger, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Sao Tome and Principe.

This is according to a World Bank report, titled ‘Global Economic Prospect: Subdued Growth, Multiple Challenges,’ said growth in lower-income countries (LICs) such as Niger, Sudan, and South Sudan is expected to increase this year from a weak performance in 2023.

“Sluggish growth last year mainly reflected increased political instability and violent conflict in some fragile LICs, especially Sudan, and weaker outturns in some metal exporting LICs facing lower global metal prices,” the report said.

The report stated that peacebuilding in Ethiopia was gradually yielding dividends and growth prospects for Niger, South Sudan, and Sudan were improving somewhat.

However, further analysis of the report revealed that out of 46 countries in Africa, the top ten expected to see the fastest year-on-year growth rate this year are Niger with 10.5 percentage points followed by Senegal with 4.7 percentage points.

Guinea-Bissau had 2.8 percentage points, Angola had 2.3 percentage points and Sao Tome and Principe had 2.0 percentage points.

READ ALSO:

The rest are Zambia (1.9 percentage points), Burundi (1.3 percentage points), Malawi (1.2 percentage points), Republic of the Congo (0.9 percentage points) and Liberia (0.9 percentage points).

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, ranked 27th on the list; the country’s GDP growth rate is projected to increase by 0.4 percentage points to 3.3 percent.

“Growth in Nigeria is projected at 3.3 percent this year and 3.7 percent in 2025 up 0.3 and 0.6 percentage points, respectively, since June as macro-fiscal reforms gradually bear fruits. The baseline forecast implies that per capita income will reach its pre-pandemic level only in 2025,” the Washington-based lender, said.
It predicted that the removal of fuel subsidies and the adjustments to exchange rates would cause inflation to steadily decline, with commerce, construction, agriculture, and services driving the majority of growth.

“In Nigeria, growth softened to an estimated 2.9 percent in 2023. While services growth weakened markedly in 2023, partly driven by a disruptive currency demonetization policy in the first quarter of 2023, annual oil production increased after a notable decline in previous years.

“These structural reforms are expected to boost fiscal revenue over the forecast period. Nigeria’s per capita income is projected to return to pre-pandemic levels only by 2025,” it added.

The most populous country in Africa had a difficult year due to naira scarcity, the elimination of petrol subsidies, and naira devaluation, which raised inflation pressures, unemployment, and poverty rates.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the nation’s GDP increased slightly by 2.54 percent (year over year) in the third quarter of last year from 2.51 percent in the second quarter and 2.25 percent in the same period of 2022.

Headline inflation reached 28.92 percent in December, the highest annual rate in two decades.

Please follow and like us:

Niger, Senegal, Angola To Experience Fastest GDP In Africa