Import-Dependency in Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast & Senegal Compared

Africa accounted for 2.6% of the world trade in 2021, and in 2021, Africa’s merchandise trade with the world was $1.18 trillion, with a trade deficit of about $35.27 billion. Over the years, eyebrows have been raised over the volume of imports into Africa, politicians have railed against importation in their campaign rhetoric, and scholars have written theses about its ills. Essentially, the statement “Africa is import-dependent” has been a popular economic rhetoric.

As the import-to-GDP ratio in most African countries is lower than obtainable across the world, does Africa have an import problem? In this article, we will review the various import data from different African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, and Senegal. And we will make deductions based on the facts.

Nigeria

The largest economy in Africa with a GDP of about $450 billion and foreign reserves of about $37 billion. Nigeria has been described as an import-dependent economy, despite having a trade surplus of $7.1 billion in the first half of 2022. Is Nigeria truly an import-dependent country?

In 2021, Nigeria’s import volume was about $47 billion with an import per capita of about $235. With an import-to-GDP ratio of 10.7%, experts have argued that Nigeria cannot be classified as an import-dependent economy, and rightly so. Nigeria has one of the lowest imports per capita in the world, and an import-to-GDP ratio lower than that of most countries in the world.

Nigeria’s major imports are refined petroleum products, cars and machinery, wheat, and medicaments. While the major exports are crude petroleum, petroleum gas, scrap vessels, urea fertilizers, cocoa beans, etc. While the oil sector contributes 5.66% to Nigeria’s GDP, it contributes 80% of the country’s total export revenue.

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While the agricultural sector contributed 29.67% to Nigeria’s GDP in Q3 2022, the sector was only able to contribute 1.2% to the country’s export revenue in the same quarter.

Ghana

With a GDP of about $79 billion and an import volume of $22 billion, the import-to-GDP ratio in the Ghanaian economy for 2021 is about 28%, and the import per capita is about $670. Despite having a significantly higher import per capita than Nigeria, Ghana still has a relatively lower import volume.

Ghana’s major imports are refined petroleum, cars and machinery, rice, and iron, while the country’s major exports were gold, crude oil, cocoa products, and other agricultural products.

Morocco

Morocco has a GDP of about $142.9 billion with an import volume of $60 billion giving an import-to-GDP ratio of about 42%, and an import per capita of about $1620. Morocco had a trade deficit of about $12.57 billion and considering the nation’s high import-to-GDP ratio, they can be termed import-dependent.

Morocco’s top exports are cars, minerals or chemical fertilizers, phosphoric acid, and agricultural produce while the country’s top imports are refined petroleum, wheat, petroleum gas, and cars. Morocco has a fairly developed manufacturing sector that accounts for 14% of its GDP, and in 2021, the country’s vehicle production capacity exceeding 700,000 vehicles a year. The manufacturing sector is supported by the port at Tanger Med along the Strait of Gibraltar which is the largest container port in Africa.

Egypt

Egypt is the third largest economy in Africa with a GDP of about $404 billion and an import volume of $83 billion in 2021. The country has an import-to-GDP ratio of about 20% and an import per capita of $760. Egypt had a very high balance of trade deficit of about $39.9 billion in 2021, this deficit is about 90% of the country’s total export volume. The figure indicates that Egypt imports more than half of what they export.

Just like Morocco, the manufacturing sector in Egypt is a huge contributor to the nation’s economy as the industrial sector contributes about 11.7% to Egypt’s GDP. Egypt also has a thriving agriculture sector as the country’s agricultural exports hit $3.3 billion in 2022. The country’s major exports are refined petroleum, crude petroleum, gold, and nitrogenous fertilizer, while its major imports are wheat, crude oil, cars, and refined petroleum.

Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast is the third largest economy and the fastest growing economy in the West African sub-region. With a GDP of about $70 billion and an import volume of about $14 billion, the country had an import-to-GDP ratio of 20% in 2021 and an import per capita of $518.

The country made exports of about $12.9 billion in 2021 with the major exports being cocoa, rubber, unwrought gold, and crude oil. Ivory Coast’s economy is majorly dependent on agriculture as the sector contributes about 21.4% to the country’s GDP.

Senegal

Senegal is an emerging lower-middle-income economy with a GDP of about $27 billion and a GDP per capita of $1637. The country had an import volume of $9.7 billion in 2021 translating into an import-to-GDP ratio of about 36% and an import per capita of $574.

Senegal’s main exports are gold, non-fillet frozen fish, refined petroleum, and phosphoric acid. While the country’s main imports are refined petroleum, rice, crude oil, cars and machinery. With a trade deficit of $5 billion, Senegal’s import volume is more than 200% of its export volume.

Are African Countries Import-Dependent?

From Nigeria to Ghana to Morocco to Egypt to Ivory Coast and Senegal, one thing is certain, African countries have a relatively low import per capita when compared with other developed and developing economies across the World. However, the concept of import-dependent cannot be overruled considering that most African countries depend on imports for some of their basic needs.

Nigeria, for instance, is one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil, however, is also one of the world’s largest importers of refined petroleum. The country also has one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world, however, the country is a net importer of cooking gas despite the level of gas flaring that occurs in the country. Paradoxes like this connote that Nigeria is a serial importer of energy, which is a primary raw material for any activity that takes in a country. Hence, the notion exists that Nigeria is import dependent.

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For countries like Ghana with a relatively small manufacturing economy and a relatively high import-to-GDP ratio, the reality for Ghana is that the country exports a lot of primary goods but is a big importer of value-added goods.

In some of the North African economies with fairly large manufacturing sectors, a lot of importation of raw materials is done as is seen across bigger exporting nations in the world. For example, the US which is the world’s largest economy had a trade deficit of $861.4 billion in 2021. And China, the world’s largest exporter had a trade balance surplus of $459 billion resulting from $2.07 trillion worth of imports into the country. As can be observed from major economies across the world, there is a direct relationship between the number of imports and exports. Hence, when a nation strives to increase its export volume, it is striving to increase the volume of its imports.

Summarily, African countries are termed “import-dependent” due to the amount of reliance on imported finished products.