DFAT - Sub-Saharan Africa Aid Program Performance Report 2018-19

This report summarises the performance of Australia's aid program in Sub-Saharan Africa from July 2018 to June 2019 against the Sub-Saharan Africa Aid Investment Plan (AIP) 2015-2019.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a highly diverse region consisting of 49 countries and a total population in 2018 of 1.078 billion. The region continues to face multiple development challenges and major differences exist between individual countries. While the region has witnessed a reduction in conflicts in recent years, some countries continue to be affected, posing significant strains on their economies, major declines in their per capita GDP and loss of human and physical capital.

In this context, Australia's aid program to Sub-Saharan Africa continues to make a small but valuable contribution by building human capital and addressing skills shortages, improving agricultural productivity and food security and providing humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflicts and crises. The program also promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls across all its investments. As such, it continues to align closely with the four strategic objectives of the Sub-Saharan Africa AIP 2015-19.