Structural improvements in Sub-Saharan economies

The debate on current economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) contains two opposing poles: One position claims that African countries are on their way to catching up with richer parts of the world. The other argues that no structural changes have occurred, and that continued dependency on commodity exports will push African economies further into poverty traps, while economic enclave sectors blossom. This article surveys challenges in promoting inclusive growth and creating employment, and goes on to assess how countries' economic vulnerability has developed, as measured by the economic vulnerability index used by the United Nations for classification of 'least developed country' status. Improvements are found for several African countries as well as for SSA on average, despite simultaneous increases in the average export concentration. This broader measure shows structural conditions for economic growth to have improved for SSA on average and for many of its countries.