This is despite persistent global headwinds and fiscal pressures.<\/p>\n
Releasing the Fund\u2019s October Regional Economic Outlook at the 2025 Annual Meetings on Thursday, IMF African Department Director Abebe Selassie commended the region\u2019s resilience but warned that policy buffers were being severely tested.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSix months ago, we noted the region\u2019s strong policy efforts and better-than-expected growth in 2024. However, global conditions have since become more turbulent, with weaker demand, softer commodity prices, and tighter financial markets,\u201d Selassie said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He noted that while several countries, including Benin, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda, rank among the world\u2019s fastest-growing economies, resource-intensive and conflict-affected states continue to lag behind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Commodity price trends have diverged, with oil prices falling while those for cocoa, coffee, copper, and gold remain elevated. Though external financing conditions have improved slightly, enabling countries like Kenya and Angola to return to international capital markets, aid flows are declining sharply, leaving low-income and fragile economies particularly exposed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IMF highlighted rising debt service costs, inflationary pressures in parts of the region, and shrinking external buffers as key risks. \u201cRising debt service costs are crowding out development spending, and the shift toward domestic financing is deepening the sovereign-bank nexus,\u201d Selassie cautioned.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The report calls for two urgent policy priorities: boosting domestic revenue and improving debt management. The IMF urged governments to modernise tax systems through digitalisation and better compliance,<\/p>\n
while also building public trust and ensuring that tax reforms are equitable.<\/p>\n
On debt, Selassie emphasised the need for transparency and stronger public financial management.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cPublishing comprehensive debt data and reinforcing budget oversight are key steps toward reducing borrowing costs and unlocking innovative financing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Since 2020, the IMF has disbursed nearly $69 billion to sub-Saharan Africa, including $4 billion so far this year. Selassie reaffirmed the Fund\u2019s commitment to support the region\u2019s reform and recovery efforts, saying the aim is to \u201cbuild resilience and support inclusive, sustainable growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–IMF\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13045,"template":"default||default","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-13044","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s economic growth will remain steady at 4.1% in 2025.||The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s economic growth will remain steady at 4.1% in 2025.","published_date":null,"news_description":"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s economic growth will remain steady at 4.1% in 2025.||The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s economic growth will remain steady at 4.1% in 2025.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/13044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/13044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18351,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/13044\/revisions\/18351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=13044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}