Growth in most emerging economies did not take as hard a hit as expected during the great recession of 2008. However, in light of more recent economic turmoil in these markets, many believe that emerging and developing economies are being struck by a “third wave” of the global financial crisis. As policymakers in these countries, how do we forestall this wave and ensure that, if it hits, our economies will be resilient to the shocks?

Looking back to 2008, Rojas-Suarez (2015) demonstrated that initial conditions in emerging markets before the crisis could greatly explain their resilience. We decided to check to what extent these findings applied to sub-Saharan Africa. This report analyzes how resilient a sample of 13 sub-Saharan African countries are to an external shock.