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Vol 67 No 2

Published 23rd January 2026


Green shoots amid global chaos

There are reasons for optimism on growth and inflation but concerns on the cost of Africa’s debts persist

After a year of global uncertainty during which Africa’s economies were hit by the tariff war fallout, deep cuts in official development assistance (ODA), and the impact of international and regions conflicts, 2026 started with forecasts of faster growth. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank had raised their 2025 GDP growth projections for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and key North African economies at their Annual Meetings in Washington DC , partially reversing Spring Meeting downgrades, and the optimism has continued. The Bank has issued upbeat SSA forecasts for this year and 2027 of 4.3% and 4.5% growth, and the IMF predicts 4.6% for both years partly driven by economic reforms in African economies.

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