Many countries across Africa are experiencing an economic malaise. What began as a slump for commodity exporters in 2014 became a general slowdown with the shocks of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. But like Africa’s last “lost decade” in the 1980s, a moment of crisis could be an opportunity to set a different economic course.
In the Global South, the rush to create green economies risks leaving behind workers in the informal sector unless there are targeted efforts in education and job training—policies and talking points often left out of this new green rush. Chile, considered to be Latin America’s most developed economy, is a case in point.
Instead of the major economic crisis that was previously predicted, Latin America appears to be in a period of stagflation—growing too slowly to meet populations’ needs, with high but not crisis-level inflation. But several presidents are now questioning the independence of the central banks, a potential warning sign to the region.
