Africa’s fastest growing economies through 2024

Brookings Institution’s annual ‘Foresight Africa Report’ predicts Senegal, Rwanda, Niger, Uganda and Mozambique as the five fastest growing economies over the next five years. This is line with other reports and predictions that point to Africa’s positive economic outlook despite slowing global GDP growth.

                                           Source: (Foresight Africa Report)

There are several factors and elements that these predictions are hinged on such as improving business environments across the continent, regional integration expected to come with the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, and the growth and spread of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – all of which have resulted in increasing interest and investment in the continent.

Of these promising factors, analysts say there is a $16 billion opportunity if African countries fully implement the African Continental Free Tree Agreement (AfCFTA). In the ideal scenario where there’s a 100% liberalization of tariffs across African member states under the agreement, the continent’s aggregate GDP would jump to $3 trillion by 2030 from $2.1 trillion today. In this scenario there would be a 33% increase in intra-African exports and 1.2% increase in employment.

Foresight Africa also highlights five priorities to deliver a prosperous continent by 2030:

1. Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will shape policy priorities for African governments and their partners.
   
2. Deepen good governance – For Africa to accomplish the ambitious but laudable SDGs, strong institutions and good governance must be in place.
   
3. Leverage demographic trends for economic transformation – Among the top challenges facing the continent continues to be the mismatch between demographic trends and job creation. With rapid population growth and urbanization, African leaders must fashion and implement policies to encourage job creation and maintain service delivery.
   
4. Combat climate change – Overshadowing all these challenges is the threat of climate change. Food security is particularly in the crosshairs as climate change threatens means of production and the nutrition of the continent’s people. At the same time, the perils of increasing and strengthening natural disasters loom over the millions of people living in low elevation coastal zones.
   
5. Capture the Fourth Industrial Revolution – Many leaders see the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its accompanying technologies as a pathway for many solutions to the challenges facing the continent. Progress toward goals such as education access, climate change mitigation, and service delivery can all be enhanced by digital tools both already available and on the horizon.