According to 2024 estimates by the African Development Bank Group, African countries are projected to account for more than half of the world fastest growing economies; in particular, Niger, Senegal, Libya and Rwanda are expected to grow at the fastest rate of over 7% per year.[1]
Estimates of Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in 2023 show that most African countries were at the 5% growth mark.[2] At that time, Libya was leading the continent at 17.5%, with Senegal following at 8.3%. DRC, Côte d'Ivoire and Rwanda also made the top five performing countries. At the bottom of the list, South Africa had a growth rate of 0.1% while Equatorial Guinea’s economy had receded with a rate of -1.8%.
World Bank estimates for 2022 presented a different picture, with Niger leading economic growth at 11.5%, South Sudan receding at a rate of -10.8% and the continent as a whole seeing an average of 4.2% growth.[3]