First ECA biennial regional review of progress on the Istanbul programme of action

Abstract

This document is the maiden draft biennial LDC review report for Africa. It will be finalized following consultations with national and global follow-up processes. The first part of the report assesses the performance of African LDCs with respect to the graduation criteria (i.e., per capita Gross National Income (GNI)); the Human Asset Index (HAI); and the Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI)). This will be followed by an analysis of African LDC performance on the eight IPoA priority areas for action.1 The third section of the report focuses on the challenges and opportunities associated with smooth transition from LDC status. A central theme of the report is that graduating from LDC status based on GNI alone masks fundamental structural weaknesses of Africa’s LDCs and calls the robustness of the criteria and the extent to which graduation is sustainable into question.