With inflation growing higher than seen in several decades, global economic growth is projected to be weak in 2023, ranging between 2.7% and 3.2%, given the broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown in global economic activity, according to figures released in October 2022 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A new biannual report released by the African Development Bank Group (ADB) revealed that economic growth in Africa is expected to exceed global forecasts in 2023 and 2024, with real gross domestic product (GDP) averaging around 4% in the said period.
The ADB pointed out that the expected figures for the region’s economic growth would outperform the rest of the world, which is projected to grow from 2.7% to 3.2% on average.
The report forecast the growth average in the five African regions in 2024 as follows: North Africa (3.4%), Central Africa (4.2%), East Africa (5.4%), West Africa (4.3%), and Southern Africa (2.8%).
“With 54 countries at different stages of growth, different economic structures, and diverse resource endowments, the pass-through effects of global shocks always differ by region and by country. Slowing global demand, tighter financial conditions, and disrupted supply chains therefore had differentiated impacts on African economies,” African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said during the launch ceremony of the ADB report titled "Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook."
Adesina pointed out that growth across all five African regions was positive in 2022, despite the “confluence of multiple shocks,” adding that the “outlook for 2023–24 is projected to be stable.”
The ADB's "Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook" report revealed that Africa’s real GDP slowed to 3.8% in 2022, from 4.8% in 2021, due to a number of “significant” domestic and external challenges that faced the continent in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
With a comprehensive regional growth analysis, the publication revealed that 53 out of Africa’s 54 states had posted positive growth during the last year.
The report listed the top 10 African nations expected to grow by more than 5.5% on average in 2023-2024, including Rwanda (7.9%), Ivory Coast (7.1%), Benin (6.4%), Ethiopia (6.0%), and Tanzania (5.6%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (6.8%), Gambia (6.4%), Mozambique (6.5%), Niger (9.6%), Senegal (9.4%), and Togo (6.3%).
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals, who attended the report launch event at the ADB headquarters in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, said that the figure listed in the report proved that Africa is currently “the place to invest.”
“Africa can and will rise to growth of 7 percent or more per year consistently in the coming decades. What we’ll see, building on the resiliency we see in this report, is a real acceleration of Africa’s sustainable development so that Africa will be the fast-growing part of the world economy.”
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is preparing to leave the Trump administration after what a new report has described as months of tension with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, potentially triggering another change at the army’s top echelons.
According to the Friday report by The Wall Street Journal, Driscoll is expected to step down before the end of the year and could leave his post earlier. The newspaper cited people familiar with discussions over his departure.
The Journal reported that Driscoll and his family vacated the official residence assigned to the army secretary at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall this summer, a move that could indicate he was preparing to leave the position.
The reported departure would come at a time of continuing uncertainty at the top echelons of the army.
Hegseth abruptly removed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April, while Trump has not yet nominated a permanent successo....more below
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns the enemies that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Following the US military attack on a point on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport with aerial projectiles, the IRGC carried out new strikes targeting the US air base from which the attack originated in the wee hours of Thursday, it added.
“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...
