The World Trade Organization raised its forecast for Africa’s imports growth to 11.8% from 6.5%, marking the fastest growth of any region so far this year. The forecast for Africa’s export growth also surged to 6.5% from just 0.6%.
The results indicate that global trade with Africa has been more resilient than economists had predicted following the imposition of US tariffs, with the continent’s largest international exporter — South Africa — still facing 30% tariffs on exports to the US. Instead, globally, trading activity is high, due to the frontloading of imports in the US in anticipation of higher tariffs, as well as factors like disinflation, supportive fiscal policies, and strong growth in emerging markets, the report said.
But the forecasts for 2026 were less positive: African imports are predicted to fall to 5.4%.