SA's industrial slide hits the headlines - Morocco now Africa's top industrial economy

Key topics:Morocco overtakes South Africa as Africa’s top industrial economySouth Africa’s competitiveness hit by power and investment woesAfDB says North and Southern Africa still lead manufacturing output.By Ana Monteiro.Morocco overtook South Africa as the continent’s most industrialized economy last year as it upgrades its offering, diversifies exports and implements growth policies, a report showed. “While South Africa remains a continental industrial powerhouse, it continues to experience a steady decline in industrial competitiveness,” the African Development Bank said in its Africa Industrialization Index for 2025. .Years of power shortages, state corruption, political uncertainty and surging living costs have deterred investment and curbed economic growth, with gross domestic product expanding by an average of less than 1% annually over the past decade..Read more:.South Africa’s economy turns corner, but big reforms still needed: Katzenellenbogen.President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously estimated that South Africa needs as much as 1.6 trillion rand ($99 billion) in public-sector infrastructure investment and a further 3.2 trillion rand from the private sector for it to achieve its infrastructure goals by 2030. Gross fixed-capital formation contracted in three of four quarters last year, rising only in the final four months of 2025 in a sign that businesses are beginning to invest in machinery and buildings, which may help lift the economy’s productive capacity.Industrial capacity remains heavily concentrated in northern and southern Africa, which account for most of the manufacturing output, export sophistication, and industrial competitiveness, the AfDB said. .© 2026 Bloomberg L.P..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

SA's industrial slide hits the headlines - Morocco now Africa's top industrial economy

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