According to the latest ranking published by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire are the most industrialized countries within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the only West African representatives among Africa’s top 10 industrialized nations.
They rank significantly ahead of Nigeria and Ghana and also outperform all mainland East African countries. This performance reflects a more favorable business environment, stronger investment conditions, and sustained industrial development policies.
In its latest report on industrial development in Africa, published on May 24 under the title “Africa Industrialization Index 2025”, the African Development Bank ranks Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire eighth and tenth respectively in Africa, with scores of 0.6368 and 0.6173 points.
Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire: West Africa’s Industrial Champions
These two countries are the only representatives of West Africa among the continent’s ten most industrialized nations.
They significantly outperform Nigeria and Ghana, which rank third and fourth respectively in the region but occupy the 14th and 18th positions at the continental level.
They also rank ahead of all mainland East African countries, with Kenya—the region’s most industrialized economy—coming in 11th place, followed by Tanzania (23rd), Ethiopia (31st), and Rwanda (32nd).
Nigeria and Ghana are followed by Benin and Togo, two other ECOWAS and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) member states, ranked 24th and 25th respectively at the continental level. Their positions are roughly comparable to Tanzania’s and remain ahead of Ethiopia.
Outside ECOWAS, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso rank 34th, 35th and 36th respectively in Africa. They are followed by Cabo Verde (37th) and Niger (40th), which recently withdrew from ECOWAS.
The five lowest-ranked West African countries are Guinea (41st), Liberia (42nd), Sierra Leone (45th), The Gambia (50th), and Guinea-Bissau (51st).
No French-speaking country is therefore among the four least industrialized countries in ECOWAS and West Africa.
North Africa Leads Continental Industrialization
At the continental level, North Africa remains Africa’s most industrialized region, with four representatives in the top 10, including three French-speaking countries. It is followed by Southern Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa.
East Africa accounts for five of the ten least industrialized countries on the continent, including South Sudan, an oil-producing country ranked 53rd and second-to-last in the ranking, just ahead of São Tomé and Príncipe, a small Portuguese-speaking island state in Central Africa.
East Africa also remains the poorest region of the continent, continuing to record the lowest GDP per capita levels.
For example, only two mainland East African countries exceed the threshold of US$1,500 GDP per capita (Djibouti and Kenya), compared with at least six mainland West African countries, including five French-speaking nations.
This makes the performance of French-speaking West Africa even more remarkable, as the region has been one of the continent’s most dynamic areas, recording an average annual growth rate of 5.6% between 2014 and 2025, compared with 4.1% for English-speaking East Africa, despite the latter being less developed.