Source: Business Insider Africa
Each economic year presents countries with the opportunity to eradicate some of the complexities that may have stagnated fiscal growth in the previous year. As January commences, administrations across the globe often set a benchmark for the middle of the year to evaluate how much they’ve progressed, compared to the previous year’s performance in the same period. Simply put, a new calendar year inspires the promise of improvement.
Even though quarters and months are appropriate evaluation timeframes, mid-year evaluations always project more urgency.
In addition, among other indicators of finance, a nation’s inflation rate serves as a key economic indicator. The inflation rate of a country, and how much it has changed highlights just how well or how poorly said economy is performing, and oftentimes indicates future trends.
The steady and persistent increase in the general price level of goods and services is a fundamental economic concept that has far-reaching implications for individuals, businesses, and governments. It’s an economic indicator that measures the erosion of purchasing power over time. While moderate inflation is considered a natural and even desirable phenomenon in most economies, an uncontrollable surge in inflation can lead to economic instability and financial turmoil.
In recent times, the global economy has witnessed the growth of inflation, sparking concerns and debates about its causes, consequences, and potential remedies, with Africa being no exception. African countries have experienced their own fair share of economic issues since the year began, albeit some countries are handling these issues more tactfully than others. Below are the countries that have not curtailed the rapid rise in their inflation.
The list below represents countries that have experienced the most significant change in their inflation values from January to July, as opposed to highlighting the countries with the highest inflation rates currently. This list is courtesy of Trading Economics, a data platform that offers its customers precise data for 196 nations, including historical data and projections for more than 20 million economic indicators, currency rates, stock market indices, government bond yields, and commodity prices.
Additionally, the nations on this list are those with the most recent inflation statistics available on the site; as a result, Djibouti, Libya, and a few other countries that have data dating all the way back to May will not be included.
Generally, Africa nations have done well in controlling rising inflation rates. Of the 53 countries listed by Trading econonmics, only 11 have worse inflation figures than they did in the beginning of the year, ten of which are listed below.
Below is the list of ten African countries where inflation spiked the most from January to July.
| Rank | Country | January Inflation | June/July inflation | Inflation differential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Egypt | 25.8% | 36.5% | 10.7% |
| 2. | Congo | 16.2% | 26.7% | 10.5% |
| 3. | Gambia | 13.1% | 17.8% | 4.7% |
| 4. | Benin | 1.3% | 3.9% | 2.6% |
| 5. | Malawi | 25.9% | 28.4% | 2.5% |
| 6. | Nigeria | 21.8% | 24.1% | 2.3% |
| 7. | Zambia | 9.4% | 10.3% | 0.9% |
| 8. | Somalia | 5.6% | 6.0% | 0.4% |
| 9. | Madagascar | 11.4% | 11.8% | 0.4% |
| 10. | Burundi | 28.6% | 29.0% | 0.4% |
Source: Business Insider Africa
