Kenya now third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa

Kenya overtook troubled Angola to become the third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows.

With Covid-19 devastating a lot of economies around the world, including Kenya’s, estimates from the global lender show that Kenya is likely to stretch this lead as it inches closer to the leaders, Nigeria and South Africa.

However, sub-Saharan Africa is expected to sink into a recession for the first time in 25 years, with South Africa and Nigeria expected to register negative growth of 3.4 per cent and 5.8 per cent, respectively.

Angola will also plunge into a recession, with its GDP shrinking by 1.4 per cent.

However, Kenya, with an economy valued at Sh9.74 trillion last year, is way behind the second-largest economy in the region.

IMF estimates South Africa’s GDP at Sh36 trillion in 2019, while Nigeria’s total wealth was estimated at Sh44.6 trillion.

Kenya, however, drops to position six when you include all the African countries, with Egypt, Algeria and Morocco coming between Kenya and South Africa at positions three, four and five, respectively.

GDP current prices (billions of US dollars)	2017	2018	2019		Estimated GDP growth 2020
Nigeria	376.361	398.186	446.543		-3.40%
South Africa	349.433	368.135	358.839		-5.80%
Kenya	78.689	87.928	98.607		1%
Angola	122.124	105.902	91.527		-1.40%
Ethiopia	75.745	80.289	91.166		3.20%
Ghana	58.978	65.518	67.077		1.50%
Tanzania	53.227	56.852	62.224		2%
Congo, Dem. Rep. of the<	37.615	47.099	48.994		-2.30%
Côte d'Ivoire	38.134	43.048	44.439		2.70%
Cameroon	34.997	38.712	38.632		4.10%
Sudan	45.944	34.282	30.873		-7.20%