A continent of many traditions — and rapid transformation

An economy in transformation

The mid-2020s outlook shows real momentum, though the phrase 'Africa is booming' needs care. The African Development Bank's 2026 outlook — launched at its Annual Meetings in Brazzaville under the theme of mobilising development financing at scale — projects 4.2% growth for 2026, after 4.4% in 2025. East Africa remains the fastest-growing region (around 5.9% in 2026) and West Africa is projected near 4.7%. Growth of around four percent is significant globally, but population growth means gains per person are smaller, and development remains uneven.

The drivers

Several forces are reshaping the continent at once, and they compound one another.

• ◆A young, expanding population and rapid urbanisation creating vast new markets.
• ◆Mobile-first digital services — mobile money, fintech, e-commerce — leapfrogging older infrastructure.
• ◆The AfCFTA and its new Digital Trade Protocol building a single market across 55 economies.
• ◆Critical minerals (cobalt, copper, manganese, bauxite, graphite) and world-class solar, wind and geothermal for the energy transition.

The honest challenges

The opportunity is real, and so are the constraints. Many governments face high debt-service costs that crowd out spending on education, health and infrastructure. GDP can grow without enough good jobs — much work remains informal and insecure. Conflict and instability damage lives and investment in parts of the Sahel, Sudan, the Horn and eastern DRC. And Africa, despite a small share of historical emissions, is highly exposed to climate impacts that hit agriculture and infrastructure hardest.

Where the inspiration comes from

We're honest about who we are: Orunmila is not an African company, and no member of the current team is African. What we offer is genuine inspiration and respect — for Africa's growth, its resilience, and its tradition of wisdom — and an open door. Orunmila draws its name and its idea from a Yoruba tradition of careful interpretation, and we hold that connection with respect rather than ownership. We borrow no sacred symbol as a logo and present Ifá as specifically Yoruba, never as a single 'African' belief system.

Where Africa, Orunmila and knowledge meet

For us, Africa represents more than a market — it represents inspiration. As businesses, institutions, universities, and communities everywhere grow, the need to organise, preserve and use what they know only becomes more important — and we would be glad to see African innovators and knowledge leaders among Orunmila's contributors. We look forward to welcoming team-members from the continent, and everyone who wants to help preserve, advance and use human knowledge. Thank you, Africa, for being the birthplace of humanity.