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The IATF Chairman further highlighted the need to invest in both hard and soft infrastructure, particularly energy. Stressing the importance of sustainable energy, including nuclear power, Olomo noted that energy is central to Africa’s structural transformation and industrialization goals.
Speaking at the ongoing 4th Intra-African Trade Fair 2025, organized by Afreximbank, the African Union, and the AfCFTA in Algiers, Algeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of the IATF said Africa has the potential to achieve annual growth rates of 7 to 10 percent if strategic investments are made in key sectors.
He added that if Africa massively invests in agriculture, industry, and services, the continent will be able to post seven to ten percent growth in the next decade and even beyond. That level of growth will push our GDP from the current US$3.4 trillion to approximately US$15 trillion, effectively tripling it within a decade, he added.
Olomo emphasised that realising this economic transformation requires urgent and deliberate action to strengthen financial and economic governance. He revealed that Africa loses around US$587 billion annually due to corruption, illicit financial flows, and negative risk perceptions, resources that could otherwise fund the continent’s $US472 billion annual development needs.
He further highlighted the need to invest in both hard and soft infrastructure, particularly energy. Stressing the importance of sustainable energy, including nuclear power, Olomo noted that energy is central to Africa’s structural transformation and industrialization goals.
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He pointed to the continent’s demographic advantage, stating that by the coming years, two out of every three young people in the world will be African. This, he said, presents a massive opportunity for market expansion and investment.
