Top 10 Countries with Best Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa Ranked by GDP, 2024

The annual Regional Economic Outlook report has been released by The International Monetary Fund (IMF) as usual and it has ranked all country members according to their economic Performance in this article we are going to follow the Top 10 best Economies in Africa regarding their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a proxy of Economic Growth, and it is a very useful indicator in the Economics.

The Word Economic Outlook report indicates that the United States of America USA was ranked as the country with the best economy in the entire world followed by China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and India. The IMF classifies countries according to their region as follows Advanced Economies, Euro area, Major Advanced Economies (G7), Emerging Market, and Developing Economies, Emerging and Developing Asia, and Emerging and Developing Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and Central Asia, and Finaly The Sub-Saharan Africa. In this article, we only go for the Sub-Saharan Countries.

What is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

GDP is a macroeconomic indicator, and the IMF defines Gross Domestic Product (GDP)  as composed of goods and services produced for sale in the market and also includes some nonmarket production, such as defense or education services provided by the government. An alternative concept, gross national product, or GNP, counts all the output of the residents of a country.

Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa

The sub-Saharan region is composed of 45 countries which are Eritrea, South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Zambia, Guinea, Mozambique, Mali, Gabon, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad, Niger, Madagascar, Republic of Congo, Mauritius, Rwanda, Malawi, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, South Sudan, Eswatini, Liberia, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Lesotho, Seychelles, Guinea-Bissau, Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, and these countries are subdivided into regions Economic Block as you notice from the table below;

Figure 1: Sub-Saharan Africa: Member Countries of Regional Groupings

After four years of crisis, sub-Saharan Africa finally appears to be on the mend. As the world economy eases, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, and Kenya issued Eurobonds earlier this year, ending the region's two-year hiatus from the global economy. Public debt remains generally stable and some budgets are increasing. Growth will rise from 3.4 percent in 2023 to 3.8 percent in 2024, with almost two-thirds of the country expecting higher growth. The economic recovery is expected to continue this year and growth is expected to reach 4.0% in 2025. Meanwhile, Inflation fell from around 10% in November 2022 to 6% in February 2024, almost halving its average.

But all is not well and the financial crisis continues. In an environment where domestic capital is persistently low, local government is still dealing with budget deficits, high borrowing costs, and default risks. The financial crisis forces countries to cut public spending and divert development resources to debt relief, hindering the growth of future generations. to reduce. Total external financing to low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to exceed $70 billion per year (6% of GDP) over the next four years. As sources of profit become increasingly scarce, the government looks for other financing options that often involve higher costs, uncertainty, and short term. Borrowing costs (domestic and international) are rising for many people. By 2023,
Central Sub-Saharan African country's government interest will account for 12% of their revenues (excluding subsidies), more than double what they were a decade ago. The private sector is also starting to feel the pressure of rising interest rates. The region is also more vulnerable to global shocks, especially weak external demand and increased regional risk. In addition, sub-Saharan African countries face ongoing political and security conflicts. The region faces an important year in 2024 when 18 countries will vote.

Below is the top 10 list of the best Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa classified according to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at Current prices based on the National Currency but Converted into US Dollars ($)

RANK COUNTRY GDP Billions ($)                                    

1. South Africa 377.676
2. Nigeria 374.947
3. Ethiopia 159.747
4. Kenya 108.923
5. Angola 94.381
6. Côte d'Ivoire 79.978
7. Tanzania 79.447
8. Ghana 76.277
9. Democratic Republic of the Congo 51.819
10. Uganda 48.958
    

Finally, This report produced various and recent economic development indicators, like Global Market performance, GDP growth, Real GDP Per Capita, Geopolitical risk analysis, Fiscal Balance, Inflation, etc, Anyone can classify economic performance according to any of these economic Indicators for us we have gone through our analysis with Gross Domestic Product as a proxy of economic growth since it measures the total output of goods and services produced within a country for a year, GDP can not be considered alone as a proxy of good economies since it never factors like income distribution, quality of life, environmental sustainability, or non-market activities like volunteer or household chores. so to have a complete image of the economy you must combine different indicators as stated above.

Author: Donald Masimbi