The IMF has just published its growth forecasts for 2022 and 2023 for sub-Saharan Africa
According to the IMF, GDP growth for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, which stood at 4.7% in 2021, is expected to decline sharply in 2022 to 3.6%, due to the international slowdown, tighter global financial conditions, and the dramatic rise in global inflation, which are spreading to a region already reeling from a series of shocks.
Rising food and energy prices are hitting the region's most vulnerable populations hard, while public debt and inflation are at levels not seen in decades.
Against this backdrop, the short-term outlook is extremely uncertain, and policymakers are grappling with the most challenging environment in years.
Despite these uncertainties, the IMF forecasts a very slight increase in growth for 2023 at the overall AFSS level (3.7% in 2023 compared to 3.6% in 2022) and at the AFSS level excluding Nigeria and South Africa (4.9% in 2023 compared to 4.3% in 2022).
The top 10 countries in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa are above the average observed in AFSS, with consumer price inflation contained in most countries except DR Congo, Rwanda, Madagascar, and Guinea, where inflation rates will exceed 8%.
GDP growth rate Consumer price trends
-Senegal 8.1% 3.1%
-Niger 7.3% 3.0%
-DR Congo 6.7% 9.8%
-Rwanda 6.7% 8.0%
-Côte d'Ivoire 6.5% 4.0%
-Benin 6.2% 1.8%
-Togo 6.2% 2.1%
-Mali 5.3% 3.0%
-Madagascar 5.2% 8.0%
-Guinea 5.1% 12.2%