For much of 2024 and into 2025, the global monetary story was one of restrictive policy rates battling stubborn inflation. Yet a small cohort of African economies has maintained benchmark rates well below 5%, offering a striking counterpoint to Nigeria, where the Central Bank held its Monetary Policy Rate at 27.5% through July 2025 before finally cutting to 27% in September—the first reduction since the pandemic.
Understanding why these outliers can afford cheap money matters profoundly. Lower policy rates reduce financing costs for business
