The World Bank has launched the 2024 Country Policy Institutional Assessment (CPIA), which focuses on the structural reforms for all Sub-Saharan African countries.
The theme for this year, which is: “Structural Reforms for a Vibrant Private Sector”, highlights the limited capacity for public sector driven growth in the region and provides examples of best practices across the range of CPIA criteria for promoting private sector growth.
The Report confirms that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) weathered 2023 relatively well, thanks to credible economic and social policy reforms.
In particular, governments and central banks have started to shift attention from weathering global shocks to building credibility, capacity and transparency.
The event spotlighted Ghana’s notable progress in policy reforms, despite challenging conditions and featured insights into best practices for promoting private sector growth across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr. Stefano Ciurto, on behalf of the Country Director, Robert Taliercio, delivered the welcome remarks, emphasising the significance of the CPIA report.
“This report is a summary of policy trends and best practices in Sub-Saharan Africa. It follows our annual Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, in which we do a full review of policy changes for countries eligible for international development assistance,” Mr. Ciurto stated.
Ghana emerged as a key highlight in the report due to its significant strides in economic reforms. Despite the economic turbulence of 2023, the country implemented robust policy measures that stabilised its economy.
“Ghana’s authorities committed to policy reforms to strengthen the central bank’s independence, which contributed to reducing year-over-year inflation from 54 percent in December 2022 to 23 percent in December 2023,” Mr. Ciurto noted.
The government of Ghana also adopted a medium-term revenue mobilization strategy and recommitted to reinstating its fiscal rule, enhancing the independence of its Fiscal Council. These reforms have been instrumental in creating a more stable macroeconomic environment conducive to private sector growth.
“These macro-economic reforms are reflected in upgrades in the areas of ‘Monetary and Exchange rate policy’ and ‘Fiscal Policy,'” Mr. Ciurto added.
He further added that in addition to macroeconomic stability, Ghana has made significant advancements in improving private sector access.
“Ghana has made strong reforms in improving private sector access, including the Office of the Registrar of Companies Act, which entered into force last year, and increased efforts to support access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises,” Mr. Ciurto said.
About the Report
The CPIA Africa report covers 39 countries and offers a comprehensive overview of best practices and policy trends in the region.
Andrew Dabalen, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, presented the results of the report, followed by a panel discussion featuring leaders from the private sector. The panel provided valuable insights into practical policies to support private sector development.
The CPIA is an annual diagnostic tool for countries eligible for financing from the International Development Association (IDA), the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. The 2024 report provides an assessment of the quality of policies and institutions in all 39 IDA–eligible countries in SSA for calendar year 2023.
Countries are rated on a scale of 1 (low) to 6 (high) across 16 dimensions reflecting four areas: economic management, structural policies, policies for social inclusion and equity, and public sector management and institutions.
The average overall CPIA scores in SSA remained stable at 3.1 – the same aggregate score as the two previous years. A more detailed look at country assessments reveals that SSA has caught up with the average overall score for IDA countries in the rest of the world thanks to social policy reform, and credible fiscal policy improvement, and institutional provisions to promote economic stability.
