According to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook report, Mozambique will be the most dynamic economy in sub-Saharan Africa in 2023 (7%), second on the African continent and fifth worldwide. In 2024, it will no longer be possible to repeat this feat. According to the organisation’s data, the country will become the 16th fastest growing country in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
If the forecasts in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook report are confirmed, Mozambique will be the Sub-Saharan African country with the highest GDP growth of 7%, the second fastest growing on the continent (after Libya) and the fifth fastest worldwide (after Guyana, Libya, Samoa and Fiji and on a par with Armenia).
The IMF’s forecasts are no longer so flattering for next year. Analysts estimate GDP growth of “just” 5 per cent, below the 5.5 per cent target set by the government in the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (PESOE) for 2024. This means that, according to data from the World Economic Outlook, Mozambique will become only the 16th country in sub-Saharan Africa with the fastest growing economy next year (on a par with Guinea-Bissau), albeit with a percentage clearly above the regional average (4%).
With regard to the region’s major economies, the worst performers are South Africa, which will be the second worst performing country in sub-Saharan Africa (1.8 per cent in 2024 and 0.9 per cent this year), Nigeria (3.1 per cent in 2024 and 2.9 per cent this year) and Angola (3.3 per cent in 2024 and 1.3 per cent this year).
As for the other countries in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), the forecasts are much more optimistic for Guinea-Bissau (5% in 2024 and 5.9% this year) and Cape Verde (4.5% in 2024 and 4.4% this year), and much more modest for São Tomé and Príncipe (2.4% in 2024 and 0.5% this year) and Equatorial Guinea which, after the -6.2% drop forecast for 2023, will continue in recession with -5.5% in 2024.
The ten most dynamic regional economies in 2024 (*)
- Niger – 11.1 per cent in 2024 (4.1 per cent this year);
- Senegal – 8.8 per cent in 2024 (4.1 per cent this year);
- Rwanda – 7 per cent in 2024 (6.2 per cent this year);
- Ivory Coast – 6.6 per cent in 2024 (6.2 per cent this year);
- Burkina Faso – 6.4 per cent in 2024 (4.4 per cent this year);
- Benin – 6.3 per cent in 2024 (5.5 per cent this year);
- Ethiopia – 6.2 per cent in 2024 (6.1 per cent this year);
- Gambia – 6.2 per cent in 2024 (5.6 per cent this year);
- Tanzania – 6.1 per cent in 2024 (5.2 per cent this year);
- Burundi – 6 per cent in 2024 (3.3 per cent this year);
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- Mozambique (**) – 5% in 2024 (7% this year).
- annual GDP growth ** on a par with Guinea-Bissau
Source: World Economic Outlook, IMF (October 2023)