The Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute (HESPI) is a regional think tank headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was established in 2006 for the member countries of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) in the Horn of Africa in particular, and developing countries at large. HESPI has garnered excellence in providing high quality economic and social policy research for evidence-based and action-oriented strategic reforms. In October this year it was awarded with the "Best research output" prize by the African Capacity Building Foundation, a specialized agency of the African Union with the mandate to build human capital and institutional capacity for Africa's sustainable development. This year HESPI will organize in Nairobi (where it maintains a regional office), the presentation of its new strategic plan, with a rich calendar of discussions on policy research, institutional capacity building and partnership and cooperation initiatives, with sectorial panels on trendy topics, like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

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The Trade and Development Report 2024 is out. The flagship publication of UNCTAD paints a gloomy picture of global development dynamics for the next years to come. The three major engines of the global economy (China, the United States of America and the European Union) are on a decelerating or weakened path and in the southern hemisphere economic growth is slowing down, with exposure to global shocks and the risk of trade fragmentation that are on the rise. The only region that displays a more accelerated growth path is South Asia. The report concludes by forecasting a global growth rate for 2024 and 2025 of less than 3%. What is more worrisome, the report notes, is that this generalized low growth scenario is increasingly intertwining with high interest rates, especially in developing countries. This raises an alarm bell on the sustainability of global financial system, which needs to be urgently realigned to the needs of such nations, especially the most vulnerable ones. More affordable, reliable and longer-term financing options are necessary to unlock investment able to sustain the development agenda of these countries. An appeal is launched to multilateral and regional banks to increase concessional finance through the utilization of innovative financial instruments.

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