The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), office for Eastern Africa on Friday announced that the region is seeing an average growth rate of close to 6 percent, exceeding the African average of 4.1 percent.
UNECA in a a report issued on Friday said that the region the region is currently seeing growth rates of close to 6 percent even though there is imbalance in growth among the countries in the region.
Ozonnia Ojielo, the UN Resident Coordinator in Rwanda was quoted by the report as saying that African economies are deeply and inextricably interconnected.
“What affects one of us inevitably affects us all. A shift in one market is felt in the next. A disruption in a single trade corridor sends tremors through the entire region” he said.
Andrew Mold, Director of ECA in Eastern Africa, presented an analysis of the region’s economic performance, highlighting strong growth across key economies but warning of widening disparities, rising social pressures, and increasing dependence on mineral exports.
According to the forecasts by the International Financial Institutions, in 2026 Africa’s economy is projected to grow faster than Asia’s for the first time in recent history.
The growth was led by exceptional performances in some countries. Rwanda recorded an impressive expansion of more than 11 percent in its most recent quarterly results.
The report noted that Tanzania followed with a solid 6.4 percent growth rate in the third quarter of 2025, while Kenya maintained steady resilience at 5 percent over the same period.
Uganda’s economy showed a strong early-year surge, peaking at 8% in the first quarter of 2025 before easing to 4.8 percent by the third quarter, the report indicated.
Meanwhile, smaller and more isolated economies continued to face tougher conditions. Burundi posted a 2.6 percent growth rate and the Seychelles—despite its status as the region’s wealthiest nation with a per‑capita income of $15,000—experienced its characteristic volatility driven by tourism and fishing dependencies.
Despite these figures, Mold issued a warning regarding economic divergence. “Historically, between 2010 and 2020, the continent experienced a period of convergence whereby poorer countries grew faster than their wealthier neighbours” Mold said.
However, from 2020 to 2024 this trend went into reverse. In Eastern Africa, the trend towards economic divergence has been even more pronounced, Mold explained.
MG/as/APA