Southern Africa enters 2027 on a gradual but uneven recovery, with infrastructure gaps, subdued productivity and reliance on a narrow range of commodities continuing to constrain growth. The African Development Bank projects regional GDP growth to rise to 2.7% in 2027 from 2.1% in 2026, supported by stronger household consumption and services, with South Africa projected at 1.6%. The outlook highlights the need to mobilise development finance at scale to close an annual financing gap of around US$55 billion by 2030, strengthen domestic investment and improve the region’s capacity to convert natural resources into broader economic and industrial value.
The 2027 Southern Africa Regional Outlook Webinar will explore how investors, businesses and governments can respond to these challenges and unlock the region’s next phase of growth in 2027 and beyond. Key topics of discussion include:
Mining, critical minerals and beneficiation: How Southern Africa can attract investment across mineral extraction, processing and downstream industries while increasing local value creation.
Energy security and infrastructure: Opportunities in renewable energy, transmission, logistics and water infrastructure, and the role of private capital in addressing persistent bottlenecks, including in South Africa, where improving electricity supply and Operation Vulindlela reforms underpin the 2027 outlook.
Regional integration and industrial value chains: How cross-border trade, transport corridors and regional cooperation can support manufacturing, services and more diversified exports.
Mobilising finance and improving investability: How to address the region’s development-finance gap through stronger project preparation, domestic resource mobilisation, capital-market development and public-private partnerships.
The webinar will assess where investable opportunities are emerging across Southern Africa and how regional cooperation and new financing approaches can support a more diversified, competitive and inclusive economic model.
Source: AfDB, Regional Economic Outlook 2026: Southern Africa Must Mobilise Development Finance at Scale (29 July 2026): https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/regional-economic-outlook-2026-southern-africa-must-mobilise-development-finance-scale-close-annual-55-billion-financing-gap