Africa Development Futures

The report analyses Africa's development path to 2043, comparing a 'Current Path' baseline with various sectoral scenarios and a 'Combined' scenario. While the Current Path shows steady growth, it fails to meet Agenda 2063 targets, leaving 19.1% of the population in extreme poverty. The Combined scenario demonstrates that coordinated reforms in governance, trade (AfCFTA), education, and infrastructure could raise GDP (MER) to US$8.87 trillion, increase GDP per capita (PPP) to US$8,040, and reduce extreme poverty to 10.9%. Key findings highlight the critical role of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and governance as the most transformative levers for income growth and poverty reduction. The report also details a significant energy gap, where demand is projected to outpace production by 2043 despite massive solar potential, and a health transition marked by a 'double burden' of persisting communicable diseases and rapidly rising non-communicable diseases.

• Under the 'Current Path' baseline, Africa's GDP at market exchange rates (MER) is projected to grow from US$2.66 trillion in 2023 to US$6.36 trillion by 2043, with an average annual growth rate of 4.6%. However, extreme poverty will only decline to 19.1% by 2043, leaving nearly half a billion people below the US$2.15/day line.
• A 'Combined' scenario of coordinated reforms across all sectors would significantly accelerate growth, raising GDP (MER) to US$8.87 trillion by 2043 and increasing the average annual growth rate to 6.2%. This integrated approach would lift nearly 200 million more people out of extreme poverty compared to the Current Path, reducing the poverty rate to approximately 11%.
• The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and governance reforms are identified as the most pivotal levers for economic transformation. The AfCFTA scenario is projected to narrow the trade deficit from 4.8% of GDP in 2023 to 2.9% by 2043 and produce the largest gains in GDP per capita among individual scenarios, reaching US$6,590.
• Africa faces a 'double burden' of disease: while deaths from communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional causes declined by 31% between 2000 and 2019, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) increased by almost 38% in the same period. By 2043, deaths from cardiovascular diseases are projected to rise to 3.44 million under the Current Path.
• The continent's agricultural sector suffers from a widening production-demand gap. By 2043, crop demand is projected to reach 2.1 billion metric tons while production reaches only 1.47 billion metric tons, creating a deficit of 627 million metric tons. The Agriculture scenario could reduce crop import dependence to 16.2% by 2043, compared to 30.8% in the Current Path.
• Energy production is a critical bottleneck; despite holding 60% of global solar potential, Africa's energy demand is expected to outpace supply. Under the Combined scenario, energy production would rise to 10.02 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) by 2043, with solar as the main driver, yet a deficit of 1.3 billion BOE would still persist.
• Informality remains a dominant feature of the labour market. Under the Current Path, the informal sector's share of GDP will remain above 24% and informal employment above 53% by 2043. The Combined scenario would significantly reduce these figures, with the informal sector's GDP share falling to 20.6% and informal employment dropping to 40.1%.
• Africa's demographic transition is slow, with a median age of 19.7 years in 2019. The 'demographic dividend ratio' (working-age to dependent population) is projected to reach 1.57 by 2043 under the Current Path, below the 1.7 threshold needed to reap the first demographic dividend. The Demographics and Health scenario would accelerate this to 1.72 by 2043.

APA

Ngundu, M., & Cilliers, J. (2026). Africa Development Futures. Institute for Security Studies. https://futures.issafrica.org/geographic/regions/africa/

Chicago

Ngundu, Marvellous, and Jakkie Cilliers. Africa Development Futures. Institute for Security Studies, 2026. https://futures.issafrica.org/geographic/regions/africa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ngundu |first1=Marvellous |last2=Cilliers |first2=Jakkie |title=Africa Development Futures |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=12 June 2026 |url=https://futures.issafrica.org/geographic/regions/africa/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ngundu2026africa, author = {Ngundu, Marvellous and Cilliers, Jakkie}, title = {{Africa Development Futures}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://futures.issafrica.org/geographic/regions/africa/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }