Africa’s economic growth also declined moderately amid these global headwinds. Growth in many of the continent’s countries was underpinned by increased private consumption owing to greater domestic demand (reflecting increased government spending on infrastructure projects and the rising middle class) and greater investment encouraged by an improved business environment and lower cost of doing business. Most African countries, however, experienced wider fiscal deficits: for commodity exporters, mainly because of less fiscal revenue from commodities as prices declined; for many countries, because of expansionary fiscal policies through increased expenditure on infrastructure development; and for countries with presidential and parliamentary elections, because of election-related outlays.

All the African subregions and economic groups had current account deficits in 2015, driven in part by declining commodity prices. Most African countries exercised tight monetary policy as global headwinds buffeted the region, mainly to curb rising inflation and high fiscal and current account deficits. Inflation increased mainly owing to weaker domestic currencies on declining commodity prices and to rising food prices.