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.
