How is the African economy doing? After a year 2023 marked by political, energy and inflationary crises, the French Development Agency (AFD) paints, in the 2024 edition of its book “The African Economy”, the portrait of a strong continent, but confronted to multiple challenges.
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2024 should be the year of recovery in Africa. After a slowdown in economic activity last year (+3.2%), the AFD forecasts a return to the 2022 level, at nearly 4% growth. Its Africa director, Christian Yoka, however, warns of certain weaknesses.
“ We see the high vulnerability of these economies, but also the various conflicts, in particular the Russian-Ukrainian conflict with macroeconomic consequences in terms of high levels of interest and high levels of inflation… then last element, it is the level of over-indebtedness and the challenge of financing development for these economies which is a subject to be addressed for 2024″, explains Christian Yoka.
This year, the big loser is above all biodiversity, in decline across the continent. Ndeye Fatou Mar, researcher at the Sahara and Sahel Observatory, warns: 750 million Africans will see their standard of living decline due to land degradation.
“ When we look at Africa, 70% of the population depends on these basic ecosystem services. We must therefore work so that this growth can be sustainable. »
The risk is the increase in migrations. If nothing is done, the World Bank predicts that more than 86 million people would be forced to leave Africa by 2050.
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