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Publication
The Africa Competitiveness Report 2017: Addressing Africa’s Demographic Dividend
(Geneva: World Economic Forum, 2017-05-01)Without urgent action to address low levels of competitiveness, Africa’s economies will not create enough jobs for the young people entering the job market. If current policies remain unchanged, fewer than one-quarter of the 450 million new jobs needed in Africa in the next 20 years will be created. These are among the key findings of the Africa Competitiveness Report 2017, a biennial publication jointly produced by the World Economic Forum, the African Development Bank, and the World Bank Group. Priorities to meet the changing demographics include policy reform to improve the quality of institutions, infrastructure, skills and adoption of new technology. House construction and better urban planning present opportunities for short-term competitiveness gains. The report finds that the ability of Africa’s economies to generate enough jobs for its young and growing population rests on the successful implementation of urgent structural reforms to boost productivity. Competitiveness is defined as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity, and hence future prosperity, of a country. The report, which covers North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, comes at a time when growth in most of the region’s economies has been slowing after a decade of sustained growth. Further stagnation is likely in the absence of improvements in the core conditions for competitiveness. Compounding the challenge to Africa’s leaders is a rapidly expanding population. -
Publication
The Africa Competitiveness Report 2015
(Geneva: World Economic Forum, 2015-06-01)The Africa Competitiveness Report 2015 comes out at a promising time for the continent: for 15 years growth rates have averaged over 5 percent, and rapid population growth holds the promise of a large emerging consumer market as well as an unprecedented labor force that - if leveraged - can provide significant growth opportunities. Moreover, the expansion of innovative business models, such as mobile technology services, is indicative of the continents growth potential. However, Africa continues to be largely agrarian, with an economy that is underpinned by resource-driven growth and a large and expanding informal sector. Indeed, more than a decade of consistently high growth rates have not yet trickled down to significant parts of the population: nearly one out of two Africans continue to live in extreme poverty, and income inequality in the region remains among the highest in the world. What is more, across sectors - from agriculture to manufacturing and services - productivity levels remain low. It will be necessary to raise productivity across all sectors of the economy to achieve higher growth and create quality employment, and turn this progress into sustainable inclusive growth. -
Publication
The Africa Competitiveness Report 2011
(World Bank, 2011)The Africa competitiveness report 2011 comes out as the world emerges from the most significant financial and economic crisis in generations. While many advanced economies are still struggling to get their economies back on a solid footing, Africa has, for the most part, weathered the storm remarkably well. The Africa competitiveness report focuses on harnessing Africa's underutilized resources: skills, female entrepreneurship, and natural and cultural resources. The report also contains in-depth assessments of the state of competitiveness, the impact of foreign direct investment on the continent, and the trade performance of the region, including the potential of increased productivity growth in agriculture and agribusiness. Its final sections provide detailed competitiveness profiles for several African countries. -
Publication
The Africa Competitiveness Report 2007
(Geneva: World Economic Forum, 2007-01-01)The publication of this year's Africa Competitiveness Report 2007 (ACR) marks a new level of cooperation in Africa. It is the first report on the region's business environment to present a dual perspective based on a combination of aggregate perception data and firm-level data capturing the actual costs of operating in national business environments; and the first to leverage knowledge and expertise within the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum. The Report presents a unified vision and a mapping of the policy challenges that countries on the continent may address as a foundation for sustainable growth and prosperity. The present report comes amid renewed optimism against the background of a much more encouraging regional business environment that is better now than it has been for years. This report is an ongoing collaboration among the three institutions. This report is intended as a tool for African decision makers from private and public circles. The report also includes detailed competitiveness and investment climate profiles, providing a comprehensive summary of the drivers of investment and competitiveness in each of the countries included in the report.