The Bank expects that higher commodities, increasing investment and a general pick-up in the world economy should all boost the continent's growth to more than 5 percent. This comes at a time when global GDP is forecast to grow by an average of 2.4 percent this year.
Foreign direct investment is forecast to reach record levels in the coming years, hitting $54 billion a year by 2015, the Bank said.
The report said strong economic growth in Africa had significantly reduced the extent of poverty in Africa over the past decade or so, with the Bank's provisional figures showing that the proportion of Africans living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 58 percent to 48.5 percent between 1996 and 2010.
"If properly harnessed to unleash their full potential, these trends hold the promise of more growth, much less poverty, and accelerating shared prosperity for African countries in the foreseeable future," said World Bank economist, Punam Chuhan-Pole.
The Bank has identified infrastructure development as being critical to ensure the strong pace of economic growth across the continent.
Investment in infrastructure would certainly be the key to the continued success of the oil and gas sectors in East Africa and the exploitation of the huge coal deposits in Mozambique. The mineral sectors in places such as Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone should continue to attract investment, the Bank added.
