Sub-Saharan Africa Economic Outlook (English and French)

The IMF released in May 2017 its "Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa."

In 2016, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa slowed in about two-thirds of the countries in the region and is estimated to have reached just 1.5 percent. This marked the region's worst performance in more than two decades. A rebound to 2.5 percent in 2017 will be driven by one-off factors in the three largest economies--a recovery in oil production in Nigeria, higher public spending ahead of elections in Angola, and the fading of drought effects in South Africa--combined with improvements in their terms of trade. Nonetheless, the underlying regional momentum remains weak and Sub-Saharan African growth will continue to fall well short of past trends and barely exceed population growth.

The report contains sections on restoring the conditions for strong and sustainable growth, restarting Sub-Saharan Africa's growth engine, and the informal economy in Sub-Sahara Africa.