This year, we celebrate Africa Day in the midst of a global geopolitical landscape that is shifting in an uncertain and alarming way. Rising protectionism is disrupting access to essential goods for our nations and creating global trade tensions, whilst the international development architecture is struggling to offer solutions that match the scale and complexity of our continent's challenges. This critical moment compels us to reflect on Africa's current global economic standing, as well as its collective strength and resilience.
The Africa Day annual commemoration serves as a powerful reminder of the continent's unity, potential, and unwavering commitment to shaping its own economic and developmental destiny despite the crisis its faces-soaring trade deficits, unsustainable debt, and volatile currencies. Within this salient challenge lies an unprecedented opportunity to redefine Africa's role in the global economy. The time is ripe for African nations to seize this moment and shape their economic destiny with purpose and foresight.
The Crisis: Protectionism and Its TollThe United States' recent decision to impose tariffs on imports from several African countries, including over 40 on imports from Lesotho, Madagascar, and Mauritius has sent shockwaves across the continent. These measures effectively nullify the tariff waivers previously granted under the African Growth and Opportunity Act AGOA, a trade law that provides eligible African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market. AGOA has been a vital lifeline for many African economies, boosting exports and fostering economic growth, and the new tariffs threaten to undermine these gains.
In 2024, exports supported by AGOA totaled approximately 8.4 billion. Although these exports accounted for only 1.1 of the total exports of participating countries, some nations-such as Lesotho, where AGOA goods comprise 17 of exports, and to a lesser extent Madagascar 7.2 and Nigeria 6.2-are heavily dependent on this trade scheme. The recent imposition of tariffs signals a troubling shift that threatens to reverse the progress made over the past two decades under this trade pact, risking regional economic stability and growth.
Beyond the direct effects, the broader impacts of protectionism and policy uncertainty on Official Development Assistance ODA, investment flows and the overall global economy are even starker. Global growth is projected to drop to 2.8 percent in 2025 and 3 percent in 2026-down from pre-tariff projections of 3.3 percent for both years. Sub-Saharan Africa's growth projections for the year 2025 have also witnessed a downward revision of 0.4 percentage points IMF Regional Economic Outlook 2025.