The economic growth across Sub-Saharan African countries reached 4.5 per cent in 2025, marking its fastest pace in more than 10 years amid favourable external and domestic policies, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Director of the African Department at the IMF, Abebe Selassie, disclosed this during his opening remarks at a press conference for the release of IMF’s April 2026 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa on Thursday. 

According to Mr Selassie, economic activity increased rapidly in the majority of countries in the region, including Nigeria, which the administrator attributed to the reward of macroeconomic reforms such as subsidy removal and exchange rate stabilisation.

“In 2025, economic activity accelerated across nearly all country groups, with regional growth reaching 4.5 percent, the fastest pace in over a decade. This was underpinned by a combination of favorable external conditions and, more importantly, sound domestic policy choices. 

“Countries such as Ethiopia and Nigeria reaped the benefits of macroeconomic reforms: exchange rate realignments, subsidy reductions, and strengthened monetary policy frameworks. The results were tangible: improved fiscal positions, declining inflation, and sovereign rating upgrades in several economies,” Mr Selassie said. 

He noted that by the end of 2025, the median inflation rate in Sub Saharan Africa fell to 3.4 per cent compared to the 4.8 per cent rate recorded the previous year, stating “policymakers across the region deserve credit for achieving them.”

Despite the region entering 2026 with its strongest economic momentum in over a decade, Mr Selassie stated the gains brought into the year were under threat due to the war in the Middle East, which caused the prices of oil and gas, fertilizer and shipping to skyrocket. 

Subsequently, the IMF has decided to revise Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth forecast to 4.3 per cent 2026 — 0.3 per cent down from the projected rate before the start of the American-Israeli war in Iran in late February. 

Median inflation is also expected to rise to five per cent by the end of this year.

“We have accordingly revised our growth forecast downward to 4.3 percent in 2026, some 0.3 percentage points below our pre-war projection, with median inflation expected to rise to 5 percent by year-end,” the director noted. 

“The impact of the shock is highly uneven. Oil exporters may benefit from higher revenues but remain vulnerable to volatility and the risk of procyclical fiscal responses. Oil importers, particularly non-resource-rich and fragile states, face deteriorating trade balances, rising living costs, and limited buffers.”