Morocco has overtaken South Africa to become the leading industrial economy in Africa, according to the 2025 Africa Industrialisation Index published by the African Development Bank.
Presented on the sidelines of the AfDB Annual Meetings in Brazzaville, the report highlights Morocco’s strong industrial transformation driven by export diversification, industrial upgrading and sustained industrial policies.
The report was unveiled alongside the first African Industrial Investment Barometer, developed by WITBA Invest SA in partnership with Trendeo. Both studies provide a detailed overview of the African economies making the fastest progress in industrialisation and investment attractiveness.
According to the Africa Industrialisation Index, Morocco now ranks first on the continent, confirming the rapid growth of its industrial sector over recent years.
The report nevertheless points out that Africa’s industrial integration remains limited. Intra-African trade currently accounts for only 14.4% of total trade across the continent, reflecting weak regional production linkages and fragmented industrial ecosystems.
Covering 54 African countries between 2010 and 2024, the study shows that 41 countries improved their industrialisation scores, with overall continental performance increasing by 6%.
Despite these gains, Africa still represents less than 2% of global manufacturing output and only 1.4% of worldwide manufactured exports.
The report also underlines the dominance of North and Southern Africa in industrial production and export sophistication.
The AfDB calls for deeper economic integration through the development of industrial corridors, improved infrastructure, harmonised standards and faster implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Meanwhile, the African Industrial Investment Barometer highlights North Africa’s strong attractiveness, with the region capturing 56% of cumulative industrial investment flows in Africa between 2020 and 2025, led by Morocco and Egypt.
Both reports identify reliable and competitive energy access, long-term local currency financing, technical skills development and cross-border industrial infrastructure as key drivers for accelerating Africa’s industrial transformation.
The study also urges African industries to move rapidly toward decarbonisation in order to avoid future penalties linked to carbon border adjustment mechanisms expected to be reinforced by Europe and the United States over the next decade.
The 2026 AfDB Annual Meetings are being held in Brazzaville until May 29 under the theme of mobilising resources for Africa’s development financing in a fragmented global environment.
