Egypt’s pound leads decade-long currency slide among Africa largest economies

Egypt’s pound has recorded the steepest depreciation against the US dollar among Africa’s major economies over the past decade, underscoring how repeated currency devaluations and sweeping economic reforms have reshaped the financial landscape in the continent’s second biggest economy.

An analysis using exchange rate data from African Markets shows that the Egyptian pound lost 82.7 percent of its value against the dollar between August 2016 and July 2026, the largest decline among the five largest economies in Africa tracked. Nigeria’s naira ranked second with a 77.7 percent depreciation, followed by Ghana’s cedi (66.9 percent), Kenya’s shilling (21.7 percent), and South Africa’s rand (11.2 percent).

The findings highlight how a decade defined by the International Monetary Fund-backed reforms, foreign exchange shortages, commodity price shocks and changing exchange-rate regimes produced sharply different currency outcomes across the continent’s biggest economies.

Methodology: Measuring currency depreciation

The analysis measures the decline in a currency’s value rather than the increase in its exchange rate.

BusinessDay calculated depreciation using the formula: Currency depreciation (percent) = (new exchange rate − old exchange rate) ÷ new exchange rate × 100

Unlike measuring the percentage increase in an exchange rate—which can exceed 100 percent—this approach captures the actual loss in a currency’s value against the US dollar, making comparisons across countries more meaningful.

Egypt’s…