The context in which this Plan is drawn is guided by mega trends globally and within the African continent.These call for urgent and concerted action in order to show development results in the implementation of Africa’s Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want. Our continent is on a path to sustained long-term transformation, with a growing youthful population, vast mineral resource endowments, significant improvements in the governance and business environments, a growing middle class, private sector investment growth and progress in accessing and adapting Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. 

Economic integration received a significant boost in 2019, following the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. There is rising competitiveness of Africa’s economies. Nonetheless, our continent remains challenged in many regards. The infrastructure deficit is significant, with financing requirements estimated at US$130 billion-US$170 billion annually, compared to US$100billion in total commitments in 2019 (AfDB). Our continent is still the least economically competitive region globally and the most recent UN progress report has warned that the world is not on track to realising several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN 2019).