As in the past, this edition of the Report on Economic and Social Conditions in Southern Africa, 2000 reviews economic performance of the 11 Southern African countries served by the Centre during 2000 and considers the prospects for the short and medium term.

The statistical information on which the Report is based includes data collected by national statistical offices and submitted to ECA and statistics provided by other UN specialized agencies as of December 2000. The section on macroeconomic performance relies to a large extent on data from major international economic publications. Whenever possible, the most up-to-date national sources have been used, provided that data quality and comparability with other national and international statistical collections were sufficient. In addition to a wide range of academic literature, the public debate underway in many countries has also been used in the analysis presented in the Report.

The preparation of this report, like the previous ones, has required the mobilization of resources and the cooperation on the part of Southern African member States, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) as well as from Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), particularly from the SADC Secretariat. Valuable assistance and collaboration was also received from both private sector and civil society organizations, which is hereby gratefully acknowledged.

It is my candid expectation that the data and information herewith published will prove valuable to decision makers, planners, academia and researchers.

Robert M. Okello
Director