Africa is growing — and increasingly on its own resources.

The conclusion comes from an interview given by Landry Signé, economist and specialist in African development, to BBC News Mundo, in which he analyses how the continent has been reducing its dependence on international aid and strengthening its economic autonomy.

For decades, the dominant narrative presented Africa as dependent on external funding to sustain basic services, fight poverty and maintain social programmes. International organisations even warned that a significant reduction in aid could trigger a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

A report published in 2025 in the scientific journal The Lancet, signed by 15 experts, went so far as to estimate that cuts in international aid could lead to up to 14 million premature deaths on the continent by 2030.

However, a year later, the picture has proved more complex.

Although some regions have suffered negative impacts, Africa as a whole did not fall into crisis. On the contrary, the continent recorded economic growth in 2025 and is expected to maintain that trend in 2026.

According to International Monetary Fund projections, 11 of the 15 fastest-growing economies in the world in 2026 will be in Africa, making the continent the region with the greatest economic expansion globally.

“Many African countries have shown a resilience that some might consider surprising,” said Landry Signé.

The myth of dependence

According to the specialist, the idea that Africa depends essentially on external aid is, to a large extent, a misconception.

The data show that international aid represents only a part of African economies' revenues. In 2023, development aid to the continent totalled 73.8 billion dollars. In the same period, remittances sent by the African diaspora reached 90.8 billion, foreign direct investment reached 97.1 billion and domestic tax collection reached 479.7 billion.

Moreover, dependence on external aid had already been decreasing over recent years. The number of countries where aid represented more than 5% of Gross Domestic Product fell from 27 in 2000 to 22 in 2022. For cases above 10%, the fall was from 14 to nine countries, while above 20% it dropped from five to just one.

At the same time, several African economies have advanced in strategic sectors.

Mauritius stood out for internet access in schools, e-commerce legislation and the presence of venture capital investors. Kenya became a global benchmark in mobile payments, while Rwanda gained recognition for using drones to deliver medical supplies.

Clear signs of a gradual economic transformation.

Real but localised impacts

Despite the resilience, the effects of the reduction in international aid were real, above all in health.

According to the World Health Organization, between January and October 2025, 5,687 health facilities in 20 humanitarian settings were affected by the decline in aid. Around 2,038 closed, reducing access to medical care for 53.3 million people.

In Nigeria, Médecins Sans Frontières reported 652 child deaths from malnutrition in the Katsina region in the first six months of 2025.

Even so, several countries managed to adapt quickly. Some governments mobilised domestic resources, while civil society and the private sector began to play a more active role in replacing the lost funding.

In Nigeria, for example, local initiatives backed by philanthropic organisations made it possible to fund 17 non-governmental organisations for three months, helping to reduce the immediate impact.

More vulnerable countries

Not all countries managed to adapt as quickly.

Somalia, Liberia and the Central African Republic, marked by internal conflict and heavy reliance on international aid, continue to face significant difficulties. In these countries, food insecurity, population displacement and disease increased after the reduction in external funding.

International organisations and some international partners provided additional support, but structural fragility continues to limit the capacity to respond.

Economic diversification

Faced with the new scenario, many African countries chose to diversify their economies and trading partners.

South Africa signed new agreements for the export of agricultural products and strengthened trade relations with Asian markets. Trade within the continent itself also gained importance, accounting for more than half of South African agricultural exports in 2025.

Botswana, for its part, adopted greater fiscal prudence, betting on public-private partnerships for infrastructure and opening sectors to private enterprise with the aim of attracting investment and reducing unemployment.

These measures, although not always popular, are seen as essential to strengthening the economy in the long term.

The role of raw materials and new partners

Rising commodity prices also helped to ease inflationary pressures and boost government revenues.

Countries such as Ivory Coast, Egypt and Morocco expanded trade relations with regional, European and Asian partners. At the same time, some European countries increased their development aid budgets, while others maintained existing levels.

The United Arab Emirates also stepped up security assistance in Sub-Saharan Africa.

China, for its part, expanded economic cooperation with the continent. In 2024, it eliminated import tariffs on products from 33 least developed African countries, boosting bilateral trade to 296 billion dollars. From 2026, 53 African countries will be able to export their products tariff-free.

At the same time, Russia has established itself as a security partner in Sahel countries.

A new economic reality

Besides natural resources, Africa possesses one of the greatest strategic assets of the future: demographics.

By 2030, half of the world's new workers will be in Sub-Saharan Africa. By 2050, more than a third of the global youth population will live on the continent.

For Landry Signé, this scenario represents a historic opportunity, but it requires effective economic policies and job creation.

The specialist advocates a strategy based on the “four Ps”: prosperity, power, peace and principles — an approach that could strengthen the continent's sustainable growth.

And, slowly, that transformation is already under way.

Without depending so much on external aid, Africa is beginning to assert itself as one of the most dynamic economic regions in the world — more autonomous, more resilient and increasingly prepared to define its own future.