The AEO briefly.

Although various annual reports on developing countries are published by international organisations, the African continent is seldom covered on a country-by-country comparative basis. One common concern of donors, private investors and local policy makers about African countries is the lack of consistent, reliable, and timely information on their economic, political and social developments.

African countries show a high degree of diversity among themselves and across time. The need of periodic reviews of their situation is a necessary tool for good policy making and economic development. The AEO responds to this by providing information on economic situation and short-term likely evolutions of selected African countries.

In order to better fulfil this objective, the report has evolved over successive editions to include thematic cross-cutting issues and has expanded its country coverage. Beginning with the second edition, a specific theme has been introduced to highlight successful cases of policy reform in areas such as privatisation, energy supply, private sector development, transport infrastructure, access to drinking water and sanitation, and technical skills development.

Furthermore, building on the success met by the first six editions and responding to the demand from African and OECD stakeholders, the number of countries covered has increased from the initial 22 to 35. The objective remains to cover all the continent. The AEO 2006/07 and the previous editions are available from the OECD Online Bookshop. The forthcoming AEO 2008 will be released in May 2008.

For further information, please write to us at [email protected]

Objectives and target | Structure of the report | AEO 2007