Economy · Africa ranking
Lending Interest Rate by African country
Madagascar has the highest bank lending interest rate of any African country, at 60% — 1.3× Zimbabwe's 46.4%.
Bank rate that usually meets the short- and medium-term financing needs of the private sector. 42 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2025.
Latest available year varies by country (1988–2025); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
Madagascar
Zimbabwe
MalawiBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Lending Interest Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madagascar | 60% | |
| 2 | Zimbabwe | 46.4% | |
| 3 | Malawi | 37.1% | |
| 4 | Somalia | 33.7% ⚠ ’88 | |
| 5 | Egypt | 24.3% | |
| 6 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 23.3% | |
| 7 | Gambia | 22% | |
| 8 | Sierra Leone | 21.4% | |
| 9 | Uganda | 19.8% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 10 | Angola | 19.4% | |
| 11 | Sao Tome and Principe | 17.8% | |
| 12 | Mozambique | 17.5% | |
| 13 | Mauritania | 17% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 14 | Tanzania | 16.7% ⚠ ’20 | |
| 15 | Kenya | 16.6% | |
| 16 | Rwanda | 16% | |
| 17 | South Sudan | 14.3% | |
| 18 | Nigeria | 14% | |
| 19 | Liberia | 13.3% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 20 | Guinea | 12.9% ⚠ ’01 | |
| 21 | Burundi | 12.4% | |
| 22 | Lesotho | 11.2% | |
| 23 | Namibia | 11% | |
| 24 | Eswatini | 10.9% | |
| 25 | South Africa | 10.7% | |
| 26 | Seychelles | 9.9% | |
| 27 | Zambia | 9.5% ⚠ ’20 | |
| 28 | Mauritius | 9% | |
| 29 | Comoros | 8% | |
| 30 | Algeria | 8% | |
| 31 | Ethiopia | 8% ⚠ ’08 | |
| 32 | Cabo Verde | 7.7% | |
| 33 | Botswana | 6.3% | |
| 34 | Benin | 6.3% | |
| 35 | Burkina Faso | 6.3% | |
| 36 | Libya | 6% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 37 | Cote d'Ivoire | 5.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 38 | Guinea-Bissau | 5.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 39 | Mali | 5.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 40 | Niger | 5.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 41 | Senegal | 5.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 42 | Togo | 5.3% ⚠ ’16 |
Somalia
Egypt
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gambia
Sierra Leone
Uganda
Angola
Sao Tome and Principe
Mozambique
Mauritania
Tanzania
Kenya
Rwanda
South Sudan
Nigeria
Liberia
Guinea
Burundi
Lesotho
Namibia
Eswatini
South Africa
Seychelles
Zambia
Mauritius
Comoros
Algeria
Ethiopia
Cabo Verde
Botswana
Benin
Burkina Faso
Libya
Cote d'Ivoire
Guinea-Bissau
Mali
Niger
Senegal
TogoGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Lending Interest Rate figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=lending_interest_rate_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2025. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest bank lending interest rate?
Madagascar has the highest bank lending interest rate in Africa at 60% (2025), followed by Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Which African country has the lowest bank lending interest rate?
Togo has the lowest bank lending interest rate of the 42 African countries with data, at 5.3% (2016).
How many African countries report Lending Interest Rate data?
42 of 54 African countries have a Lending Interest Rate figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 1988–2025). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=lending_interest_rate_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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