International Finance Corporation, World Bank’s arm dedicated to the private sector, revealed in its “Shaping the future of Africa” study published in late March that by 2030, about 100 million persons will belong to the middle class in sub-Saharan Africa.

It also revealed that household spending should annually increase by 5% in the region, against 3.8% in other developing countries. These spendings are expected to exceed 6% in most sectors, especially in transport and ICT.

Senegal, Mozambique, Rwanda, Niger and Ethiopia will drive household consumption growth within the region.

Moreover, the study emphasized that the size of the African economy has more than quintupled in the past two decades, from $300 billion in 2000 to $1.6 trillion in 2017 and is expected to exceed $2 trillion in the next two years.

This increase was mainly driven by the services sector, which recorded an annual growth rate of 6.6% over the last decade. Meanwhile, the industry sector experienced a modest growth of 3.1%, well below that of Latin America and East  and Southeast Asia .

However, the institution points out that an economic recovery is underway in sub-Saharan Africa. The average growth rate in the region has increased to 2.4% in 2017 from 1.3% in 2016, thanks to an improvement in the international economic situation, increase in several commodities' prices and improvement in financial conditions, at a global level.

Although growth remains weak in the region's largest economies, such as Nigeria, South Africa and Angola, several other countries have recorded growth rates of more than 6% a year since 2015. They include Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Tanzania.

In the mid-term, growth prospects remain generally positive in sub-Saharan Africa. The region's growth rate is expected to reach 3.2% in 2018 and 3.6% in 2020, according to IFC’s projections. Sub-Saharan Africa's growth is expected to reach 5% per year over the next few years (South Africa, Angola and Nigeria excluded).