Africa Records 3.2% Growth, $1.5T Trade Recovery in 2024

Africa's economy demonstrated resilience in 2024 with a growth rate of 3.2%, despite global challenges, according to Afreximbank's 2025 African Trade and Economic Outlook Report. This growth, attributed to stronger public investment, high commodity prices, and early diversification efforts, still falls short of the pre-pandemic 5% growth rate, with uneven progress across resource-dependent countries. Africa's merchandise trade rebounded significantly by 13.9% to $1.5 trillion, and intra-African trade increased by 12.4% to $220.3 billion, supported by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) implementation and calls for enhanced financial sovereignty and digital integration. Meanwhile, Morocco’s economy is forecasted to accelerate to 4.6% in 2025, driven by agricultural output and infrastructure investment. Ghana's economy outperformed expectations in Q1 2025 with 5.3% growth, buoyed by a strong non-oil sector and agriculture, raising optimism that full-year growth could exceed the earlier 4.8% upper-bound forecast despite fiscal tightening.