Economic Report on Southern Africa 2011

This year’s Economic Report on Southern Africa builds on the recommendations of the 16th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) held in March 2010 in Lilongwe, Malawi, which considered the paper submitted by UNECASA on the impacts of the international economic and financial crises on the economies of the sub region. The ICE called for the intensification of efforts aimed at economic diversification in order to minimise the sub region’s vulnerability to external shocks and commodity price volatility. The far-reaching adverse effects of the global downturn that range from a collapse in trade volumes with attendant reductions in export revenues and the loss of jobs across various sectors to a significant drop in private remittances across the sub region are extensively documented. These impacts were particularly severe because of the lack of diversification and the primary commodity export dependence of many of the sub region’s economies.