News Investigators/ Akinwumi Adesina, outgoing President, Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has said that, in 2025, Africa accounted for 12 out of 20 fastest growing economies of the world.
Mr Adesina disclosed this in a paper presented at the 2025 Standard Chartered Bank Africa Summit recently held in Lagos.
In a copy of the presentation obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Akinwumi said Africa’s economic growth is projected to rise from 3.3 per cent in 2024 to 3.9 per cent in 2025, and to 4.0 per cent in 2026.
He added that, defying all odds, 21 African countries are expected to exceed 5 per cent growth in 2025, with some even exceeding 7 per cent.
Regrettably, the renowned economist said the GDP growth rate on a per capital basis in the continent, still falls way short of what is needed to achieve quantum leaps in inclusive growth and prosperity for its 1.4 billion people.
He said the gap informed the decision of the AfDB to launch its High 5 strategic programs 10 years back.
The programmes, according to him, are designed to, “light up and power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialise Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life of the people of Africa’’.
“I am delighted that in the past ten years under my Presidency, the High 5s of the African Development Bank impacted on the lives of over 565 million people.
Speaking on what informed the growth, Adesina identified rapid population growth across the continent.
He said, Africa, with the world’s largest youth population, spurred increased consumption of goods and services.
“The size of Africa’s consumer market is projected to increase from 1.4 trillion dollar in 2015 to over 2.5 trillion dollar by 2030,’’ he said..
The AfDB President added that Africa is critical for feeding the world, as 65 per cent of the uncultivated arable land left to feed the world, being in the continent.
According to him, what Africa does with its agriculture will determine the future of food in the world.
“The size of the food and agriculture market in Africa is estimated to rise to 1 trillion dollar by 2030.
“Vast opportunities exist for agribusinesses and Agri-tech companies to apply digital tools to raise productivity and incomes,” he said.
Akinwumi equally underscored the importance of expanding access to digital services.
He cited the example of collaborative effort between the AfDB and Mastercard, which would reach 300 million farmers with digital access to information and markets.
NAN
