Haroon Bhorat, Stephen Hanival and Ravi Kanbur created by Haroon Bhorat, Stephen Hanival and Ravi Kanbur

The current global environment poses both a threat and an opportunity for Africa. Taking advantage of the openings afforded by trade and investment, while managing the risks and focusing on benefits for the poorest, is the central African challenge in economic policy-making. The policies needed to manage this challenge will be both macro and micro in nature and, especially, the macro–micro linkage will be crucial. The past and current disappointments with macro-level policies are gradually being understood by analysts in terms of insufficient linkage to the micro-level realities of African economy and society. At the same time, there is a realisation that micro-level policies are bound to fail if implemented in an unstable macro- or global-level environment.