The 2023 Economic Report on Africa focuses on the impact of multiple and recurring global shocks on African economies and the extent to which these shocks impede Africa’s prospects for achieving the targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals. The principal lessons are that shocks of various magnitude duration and recurrence have played a major part in shaping economic performance in the last several decades undermining Africa’s aspirations for sustained growth and rapid economic transformation that could benefit from demographic (youth bulge) and geographic (urbanization) trends. In addition successive shocks have had scarring effects that have made it difficult for African economies to recover fully even after a short-lived shock such as the Global Financial Crisis. More important the damages caused by shocks could morph into other domains such as political instability and conflict undermining recovery and resilience to future shocks. The report also emphasizes the opportunities presented by the shocks to implement long overdue structural and public finance reforms that take full advantage of such regional initiatives as the African Continental Free Trade Area.

This publication examines the role of innovative finance for business sector development as a pathway to financing and achieving Africa’s sustainable development and Agenda 2063. It articulates how innovative sources of finance can be utilized to finance Africa’s business sector development taking into account innovations in the financial services sector and financial technologies as one of the main mechanisms for transitioning African countries to inclusive economic growth and sustainable development. The publication further provides strategic guidance to the business sector decision makers and policy makers in Africa on critical regulations and measures needed to be deployed for the creation and use of innovative financing mechanisms by the private sector to leverage increased investment and financing of SDGs/infrastructure enhanced productivity job creation and prosperity.

The 2017 Economic Report on Africa focuses on the linkages between industrialization and urbanization. Urbanization is one of Africa mega trends with profound implications for the social economic environmental dimensions of growth and transformation. Theory and experience demonstrate that industrialization and urbanization can be mutually reinforcing processes. It is therefore imperative to explore the linkages between urbanization and industrialization given the profound implications for structural transformation in Africa. So far current policy narratives and frameworks on structural transformation and industrialization in Africa have largely failed to factor in the spatial and urban dimensions of industrialization and in particular the advantages presented by productivity enhancement and agglomeration effects generated by cities. Yet the nexus between urbanization and industrialization is of particular relevance for Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. Both agendas recognize urbanization as a critical factor for sustainable development. It is also important to consider urbanization and industrialization in light of Africa’s engagement with the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) to be held in Quito Ecuador in October 2016. In this context African policy makers have clearly recognized urbanization as an engine of structural transformation for inclusive and sustainable growth.

Many African economies are still characterized by a heavy reliance on the primary sector high vulnerability to external shocks jobless growth and slow progress towards social development. It is essential for African countries to promote economic diversification and structural transformation as a means to accelerate and sustain broad-based and shared high-employment-generating growth. This Report highlights that failure of earlier state-led and market-driven approaches to promoting economic transformation points to the need for fostering long-term investment rapid and sustained economic growth equity and social development within inclusive transparent and comprehensive development frameworks.

The Economic Report on Africa 2009 (ERA 2009) is organized into two parts. Part I examines global economic developments and their implication for Africa analyses recent economic and social trends and highlights emerging development challenges to the continent in 2008. Part II is devoted to the issue of regional value challenges to developing African agriculture. ERA 2009 then focuses on the question of how to enhance structural transformation of African agriculture through systematic efforts to develop regionally integrated value chains and markets for selected strategic food and agricultural commodities. Finally the report urges African governments to operationalize commitments to develop agriculture and suggests strategies that promote viable value chains at the national and regional levels.

Profound changes are increasingly occurring in all areas of the world economy. While the industrialized and emerging economies are able to contain the multiple external and internal shocks generated by these changes Africa on its part is still struggling to cope with them. The analyses reported in the present edition of the Report review the world economy and map out prospects for development in Africa through the institution of structural reforms to diversify and modernize the economy enhance competitiveness promote trade accelerate growth and reduce poverty.

With the highest incidence of poverty in the world Africa urgently needs to create more employment and thus tackle the scourge of hunger malnutrition and the overall low living standards the continent continues to witness. In addition to its traditional role of reviewing Africa’s economic performance over the preceding year and projecting medium-term prospects for the continent this year’s Economic Report on Africa the sixth in an annual series provides a detailed analysis of the challenges of unemployment and poverty reduction key issues at the heart of the debate on Africa’s development.

Africa was the only developing region to accelerate its growth in a turbulent year that saw the synchronized slowdown of all major economies and heightened uncertainty about prospects for the world’s largest economy. Yet Africa’s average annual GDP growth of 4.3% masks sharp disparities. This year’s report builds on the work of the two previous reports in laying out an agenda for Africa based on systematic benchmarking of economic performances. It begins with a discussion of broad economic trends in 2001 and prospects for 2002. It also reveals general improvements in policy. Finally in a new feature this report supplements the traditional region-wide analysis with seven in-depth country studies.