Magrams Capital invests the family’s capital with no fixed fund life, so the question we ask of a market is not whether it will rise next year but whether it will matter more in twenty. Four numbers, each from a published source, sit behind our answer for Africa.
4.5%Growth that outpaces the world
The IMF expects sub-Saharan Africa to grow by 4.5% in both 2026 and 20271, against 3.1% for the world economy this year2. Growth at that pace compounds: an economy growing at 4.5% doubles in about sixteen years.
Averages hide wide differences between countries, and growth alone does not make an investment. It does widen the set of businesses that can reach scale.
1.3bnOne market, 55 countries
The African Continental Free Trade Area joins the 55 countries of the African Union into a single market of about 1.3 billion people, with a combined GDP of about US$3.4 trillion3. For a company that proves itself in Lagos, the addressable market is no longer one country.
Implementation is gradual and uneven, so we underwrite businesses on the markets they serve today and treat continental reach as upside, not the base case.
60%The youngest population of any continent
Around 60% of Africans are under 25, and the median age is about 19, according to Pew Research Center’s analysis of the UN’s World Population Prospects 20244. A young population means a growing workforce and decades of household formation, from first homes to first bank accounts.
1.4bnCities that will double
About 700 million Africans live in urban areas today. The OECD and its Sahel and West Africa Club expect that to reach 1.4 billion by 20505, when the continent will have 159 urban agglomerations of more than one million people6. Every one of them will need power, transport, digital networks and housing.
What this means for how we invest
None of these figures removes risk. Currency, regulation and execution remain the questions that decide outcomes, which is why risk discipline matters as much as our conviction. What the numbers do is set the horizon. They tell us where patient capital is most likely to be rewarded, and why we are prepared to wait for it.
Sources
- IMF Regional Economic Outlook Update for Sub-Saharan Africa, October 2026, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria, 15 October 2026
- IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2026, as reported by Mysteel, 14 October 2026
- AfCFTA Secretariat, About the AfCFTA
- Pew Research Center, 5 facts about Africa’s population growth, 19 May 2026 (UN World Population Prospects 2024)
- OECD/SWAC, Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2025
- OECD/SWAC, Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2025: key messages