AfDB recommends regional integration as buffer against external shocks.

He was talking while launching the New AfDB Report, where he affirmed that Africa’s economic resilience continues to hold firm amid global headwinds.

The Bank Group projects growth for 2026 to stabilise at 4.3%, calling for fiscal discipline and regional integration as buffers against external shocks, including Middle East crisis.

Despite ongoing regional and global headwinds, the AfDB Group President says Africa continues to demonstrate impressive resilience and maintains its status as a global growth frontier. 

This is the focus 2026 Africa Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook, MEO report, released by the AfDB Group on Monday, March 30, at the Bank Group headquarters in Abidjan.

The report underscores that Africa outpaced the global average in 2025 as real GDP surged to 4.2 percent, up from 3.1 per cent in 2024, comfortably eclipsing the 3.1 per cent world average.

He added that a key finding in the report is the "broad-based" surge, with growth exceeding 5 per cent in 22 African countries, and topping 7 per cent in six, bolstered by easing inflationary pressures, improved macroeconomic management and favourable agricultural conditions.

Other highlights include Africa's real GDP growth which is projected to stabilise at 4.3 percent in 2026 and grow further to 4.5 percent in 2027. 

It revealed that 12 of the 20 fastest-growing economies in the world in 2025 were in Africa. 

In 2025, East Africa maintained its lead as the continent’s fastest-growing region (posting 6.4 percent GDP growth), with its expansion driven by the surge in growth performances of 9.8 per cent in Ethiopia, 7.5 per cent in Rwanda, and 6.4 per cent in Uganda.

Africa’s GDP per capita growth rose from 0.9% in 2023 to 1.1% in 2024 and 1.9% in 2025, but still remains too low to propel rapid poverty reduction, the Group President said.

According to the report, inflation is declining, with average inflation estimated at 13.6 percent in 2025, down from 21.8 percent in 2024 meanwhile further reductions are projected for 2026 and 2027. 

It revealed that foreign direct investment rebounded sharply in 2024, rising by more than 75% to reach 97 billion United States Dollars, USD.

Remittance flows rebounded strongly in 2024, rising by more than 14 percent to 104.6 billion USD—offsetting the 6 percent decline recorded in 2023 and making remittances the largest single source of external non-debt financing, surpassing foreign portfolio investment.

Dr Tah, underscored that the continent faces an "important moment when the world is changing, not always in favour of the African continent". He cited a difficult landscape of increasing geopolitical fragmentation, trade tensions, and declining global development finance flows.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3762 of Thursday April 16, 2026