WAEMU growth expected to reach 6.3% in 2026

Growth in WAEMU, the West African Economic and Monetary Union, is expected to reach 6.3% in 2026, after 6.5% in 2025, according to the organisation’s regional economic outlook for the second quarter of 2026. This growth would keep the Union among sub-Saharan Africa’s most dynamic economies, despite geopolitical tensions, rising energy costs and the slowdown in global activity.

Regional inflation was limited to 0.4% year on year in the second quarter, thanks in particular to a 0.9% fall in food prices. It is expected to average 1.2% for the year, below the community ceiling of 3%. The 2025-2026 agricultural season is expected to produce 76.6 million tonnes of food crops, an increase of 6.7%, while export crops are forecast to rise by 8.9% to 15.1 million tonnes.

The Union’s exports increased by 25.2% year on year in the second quarter, driven by mining, oil and agricultural products, resulting in a trade surplus of 2,088 billion CFA francs. Extractive activity benefited in particular from production at the Baleine oilfield in Ivory Coast and the resumption of uranium production in Niger, although energy constraints and limited production diversification remain vulnerabilities, according to the WAEMU report.

This regional forecast follows the IMF’s forecast for African growth in 2026, published on 19 October, which projected growth of 4.5% for the continent as a whole.