Summary of the work of the Economic Commission for Africa, 2020–2021

Abstract

In the period from April 2020 to March 2021, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) achieved significant milestones in various areas of its work within the context of the United Nations decade of action and delivery for sustainable development. The present report summarizes notable achievements from that period that demonstrate the Commission’s three core functions in action, including evidence-based and context-aware analytical products in support of member States’ response to and recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic; global advocacy for additional liquidity for the continent; sustained efforts to operationalize the African Continental Free Trade Area; promotion of private sector investment in infrastructure, energy and agriculture; digitalization and the establishment of knowledge hubs and online policy dialogue platforms; the negotiation of mechanisms to alleviate debt-servicing pressure and develop a long-term continental strategy on building forward better; and the delivery of tailored capacity-development programmes for African public officials in policy formulation and implementation. The report also presents highlights of the work of the Commission in mobilizing the means required to implement the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and the innovative and value-adding partnerships that it pursued to realize its programme objectives.