Africa Development Dynamics Report 2022

Strengthening African countries’ productive capacities is vital to their economic recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic is setting back Africa’s economic convergence with the world economy. African economic growth will reach 3.9% in 2022, one percentage point lower than the growth rate for the rest of the world, which stands at 4.9%. In 2022, Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) as a share of the world GDP is expected to fall to 4.7%, the lowest level since 2002. COVID-19 has also reversed progress in reducing poverty in Africa, pushing at least an additional 29 million people into extreme poverty.

The Africa’s Development Dynamics 2022 covers a number of key issues on why the African continent must develop regional value chains for a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The report, among other issues looks at:

• How the health and economic crises mutually reinforce each other and the importance of accelerating the vaccination programmes.
• The fiscal space available to African governments against the scope for fiscal stimulus.
• The production constraints that limit African producers’ ability to benefit from the rebound in global demand.
• Accelerating productive transformation for quality jobs that reduce poverty and strengthen Africa’s economic resilience.
• The opportunities the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides for regional value chain integration.
• Regional policies for expansion of regional production networks that address structural constraints and risks in regional production.
• Lessons learned on past experiences on the importance of private-sector participation in developing regional value chains and adopting a bottom-up process driven by the private sector to sustain political momentum.
• Digital innovations and the increase in efficiency of trade-related logistics, customs and finance such as the use of the distributed ledger technology for cross-border payments and trade finance and smart contracts.
• Tailoring skills policies to technical needs and emerging trends to attract investment and increasing linkages with lead firms.