Kenya is set to be replaced by Angola and Ethiopia as the third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, undermining the east African country’s power to attract investors through a population that has more cash to spend.
According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates, faster GDP growth in Angola and Ethiopia will push Kenya to fifth place in the economic ranking of sub-Saharan Africa, which marks Nigeria as the largest economy on the continent.
Ethiopia is set to overtake Kenya in fourth place as the country’s armed conflict eases and an ambitious economic reform drive to open up one of Africa’s fastest-growing but most closed economies continues.
The IMF expects the economies of Ethiopia and Angola to expand by 13.5 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively, in dollar terms this year.
However, Kenya is forecast to register a slower growth of 2.4 percent in the review period as the country grapples with the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, drought, election jitters and disruptions to global supply chains by the Russia-Ukraine war.
