Africa’s economic growth this year is forecast to outpace Asia’s for the first time, according to the International Monetary Fund, though experts warned that Africa needs major investment.
Some countries are forecast to grow at double-digit rates, according to the IMF’s latest economic outlook, with average growth in sub-Saharan Africa expected to hit 4.6%, compared to 4.1% across Asia.
Africa’s economic prospects have been buoyed by its demographics: It’s home to the planet’s youngest population, and is forecast to account for a quarter of the world’s people by 2050. However, the region will have to invest heavily in education and create hundreds of millions of formal jobs to meet its potential, the head of the French Development Agency told RFI. African policymakers say a mispricing of risk on the continent means they’ll struggle to meet their economies’ capital needs.
