Progress of the international comparison project in the African region

Abstract

The purpose of the International Comparison Project (ICP) is to use national accounts aggregates as an effective basis for meaningful comparisons between countries be it at the regional or world level. Before the initiation of work on the calculation of purchasing power parities (PPP) the structure of African economies could only be viewed through the veil of exchange rates which conceal or distort many of its real features. A United Nations study on purchasing Dower parities covering 34 countries in various regions, income levels and forms of economic organization has shown their systematic differences between the usual view of the structure of the world economy arising out of international comparisons based upon foreign exchange rate conversions and the structure one sees when actual prices are available.