Economic Report on Africa 2010: Promoting High-level Sustainable Growth to Reduce Unemployment in Africa

While many African countries witnessed notable commodity-driven growth before the global financial and economic crises of 2008 and 2009, that growth was highly volatile given its vulnerability to external shocks. Nor did such growth deliver meaningful job creation in their economies. The challenges facing African countries in the aftermath of the global economic downturn is not only to restart, accelerate and sustain growth, but also, to enhance the responsiveness of employment to growth, which is essential for sustainable poverty reduction. Discussions on the growth, employment and poverty reduction nexus is not new. Indeed, the ways and means through which job-creating growth should be addressed have been discussed in policy and research circles in recent years, often within the context of the New Partnership for Africa?s Development (NEPAD) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). ECA has contributed to this discussion through the Economic Report on Africa 2005 and the deliberations of its Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development held that year. Since the African Union Heads of State summits of 2004 and 2008 also contributed to this discussion, the attention that this issue has received over the years obviously underscores its importance for development in Africa