DRC: country set to become Sub-Saharan Africa’s 5th largest economy – IMF

According to the International Monetary Fund’s 2026 World Economic Outlook, the Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to overtake Ethiopia in nominal GDP, becoming the fifth-largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. The IMF highlights that this shift is driven in part by strong momentum in the extractive sector and rising mineral production. South Africa remains the region’s largest economy in absolute terms under the same projections.