Despite the strong average economic growth of 4.8% in 2021 signalling the beginning of a recovery from the adverse effects of COVID-19 in 2020, Africas real GDP growth slowed to 3.8% in 2022. This slowdown was caused by a combination of factors including the impacts of COVID-19, global financial volatility, and climate change. Russias invasion of Ukraine2 also disrupted energy and food imports, raising costs for African countries. These conditions pushed an additional 15 million people into extreme poverty in 2022. The challenging operating environment also continued to negatively impact project implementation and disbursement. For example, a third of our operations experienced implementation challenges and delays, a similar level as reported in 2021.