Foreword
This fact-filled annual reference book brings readers the latest information on development policies on the African continent and its five regions. It presents a new narrative assessing Africa’s economic, social and institutional performance in light of the targets set by the African Union’s Agenda 2063. This third edition of Africa’s Development Dynamics explores how digital transformation creates quality jobs and contributes to achieving Agenda 2063, thereby making African economies more resilient to the global recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Africa’s Development Dynamics is the product of a collaborative approach. It results from a solid and broad partnership between the African Union’s Commission for Economic Affairs and the OECD Development Centre. A team of academic researchers, economists, statisticians, and other experts from Africa and diverse world regions contributed to the 2021 edition of the report.
This edition contains eight chapters. The first two explore Africa’s digital transformation and priority actions, offering lessons for mutual learning across the continent and beyond. The next five chapters focus respectively on the five regions as defined by the Abuja Treaty: Southern, Central, East, North and West Africa. These chapters tailor policy recommendations to each region. The eighth chapter discusses the state of Africa’s development financing in the context of the 2020 global economic crisis, and highlights key policy areas to ensure its sustainability.
A statistical annex is available on line, which allows for updates throughout the year. It contains the latest economic, social and institutional indicators across African countries for which data are comparable. The list of summary tables appears in the last pages of the report. The data are presented by country, region, Regional Economic Communities and other relevant groups of African countries; they compare Africa with other world regions and country groups. This compilation of policy-relevant data can inform decision makers, advisors, business analysts, private sector actors, journalists, non-governmental organisations and engaged citizens around the globe who are interested in assessing African countries’ development trajectories.
The full report is published in English, French and Portuguese. An electronic version is also available on line, together with accompanying figures and tables. These, along with the statistical annex, appear on the websites of both the African Union Commission (https://au.int/afdd2021) and the OECD Development Centre (https://oe.cd/AFDD-2021).