Growth in West Africa slowed to 3.6 percent in 2022 from 4.4 percent in 2021. It is projected to pick up in the medium term, reaching 4.1 percent in 2023 and accelerating to 4.3 percent the following year. With the exception of Niger, Gambia, Guinea, and Togo, all other countries in the region decelerated in 2022. Sustained economic performance in the region’s more diversified economies is expected to drive average regional growth to 4.1 percent in 2023 and 4.3 percent in 2024.

• In Ghana, growth dipped to 3.6 percent in 2022 from 5.4 percent the previous year, weighed down by deep macroeconomic imbalances—higher inflation, a depreciating local currency, and high public debt, estimated at 91 percent of GDP.
• In Nigeria, the region’s largest economy, growth is estimated to have declined to 3.0 percent in 2022 from 3.6 percent in 2021, but still above the country’s population growth rate of about 2.4 percent. Nigeria has, however, suffered from a protracted decline in oil production due to technical inefficiencies arising from aging infrastructure and theft, limiting the gains from high international oil prices. It is also experiencing deep macroeconomic imbalances, underpinned by a costly subsidy on fuel, near 20-year high inflation, and foreign exchange shortages that fueled rapid depreciation of the national currency, further eroding citizen’s purchasing power. Uncertainty about policy continuity in the aftermath of the 2023 general elections, coupled with rising insecurity, has dampened investor confidence, which in turn has constrained investment, further weakening the country’s growth prospects. Against these headwinds, real GDP growth is projected to remain tepid at 3.1 percent in 2023 before slowly picking up to 3.3 percent later.
• In Côte d’Ivoire, investment in strategic logistics infrastructure, expanded construction projects to meet growing urbanization, and planned energy projects to enhance the country’s renewable energy sector are expected to boost growth from an estimated 6.8 percent in 2022 to 7.2 percent in 2023.
• Senegal, poised to become an oil and gas exporter in 2023 and capitalizing on a recovery in tourism and agricultural output, could ascend to list of Africa’s fastest growing economies. In this context, growth in Senegal is projected to accelerate from 4.7 percent in 2022 to 10.2 percent in 2023.