- enable-column-swiper
Building AI Readiness
The October 2026 edition of this Africa Economic Update examines how artificial intelligence can help boost productivity, expand economic opportunities, and improve service delivery. The report argues that Africa’s greatest near-term opportunity lies in adopting and adapting practical AI solutions while strengthening the foundations needed to use them effectively - including reliable electricity, connectivity, skills, data, computing infrastructure, and strong institutions and governance.
What if Africa became the world’s largest hub of digitally skilled workers?
In this new podcast episode, Andrew Dabalen, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, speaks with Fred Swaniker, founder of the African Leadership Group, about how Africa’s rapidly growing workforce, expanding tech‑training ecosystem, and new models of education and leadership development are positioning the continent as a global talent engine.
Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) for Africa
New report reveals that despite a stable average CPIA score for the region, there is an urgent need for governments in Africa to improve the delivery of essential services to promote inclusive, sustainable growth.
21st-Century Africa: Governance and Growth
This new report revisits Africa’s development path, examining persistent challenges and highlighting policies for inclusive, green, and sustainable growth.
- add-style
- lp-body-content
The Office of the Chief Economist in the Africa Region provides guidance on strategic priorities andgenerates timely, relevant knowledge on policy and institutional reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It produces research articles and reports on pressing development issues, disseminates knowledge widely, provides inputs that enrich the World Bank’s work in African countries, and fosters a strong community of economists within the World Bank and on the continent to advance the region’s development. Learn more...
LATEST RELEASES
Discover five research-backed priorities to create jobs, deepen inclusion, and build lasting prosperity across Africa.
Migration in Africa is primarily driven by the search for economic opportunity, safety, and security, including from environmental hardships.
Africa Development Forum Book Series – 15th Anniversary
The Africa Development Forum book series celebrates its 15th anniversary with a blog in English, French, and Swahili, revisiting key themes on African development and offering fresh insights from experts on topics ranging from electrification to human capital.
Learn more
Latest Events and Announcements
Dennis Egger presents a model of firm capacity choice where indivisibility in at least one input is a key driver of slack. The findings suggest that input indivisibilities and slack are key features of developing country settings and are quantitatively important for macroeconomic dynamics and policies.
This event highlights how improving grid reliability in Senegal cut outages by 40%, boosted electricity use by 8%, and increased willingness to pay by 10%. Households gained more time for wage labor, and disconnection rates fell. With a return exceeding 30%, findings show reliability upgrades can significantly enhance the value of electricity in low-income settings.
Meet The Chief Economist
The Chief Economist is responsible for providing guidance on strategic priorities and the technical quality of economic analysis in the region, as well as for developing major regional economic studies, among other roles.
The Macro Poverty Outlook (MPO) analyzes macroeconomic and poverty developments in 48 developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report is released twice annually for the Spring and Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.