国际英语新闻：Economic Report on Africa 2010 highlights efforts to reduce unemployment

It also says East Africa has posted a GDP growth rate of 4.3 percent much higher than North Africa at 3.6 percent.

According to the report, the worst hit region was Southern Africa where GDP declined by 1.1 percent, followed by the Central Africa with paltry 1.8 percent growth rate.

The report said climate change is another challenge facing Africa.

"Agriculture output is expected to decrease by 50 percent in Africa, resulting in severe undernourishment as a result of unchecked climate changes," it said. "The costs of adaptation and mitigation are, however, extremely high and beyond the means of African countries. It is estimated that the cost of adaptation could be anywhere between 5 and 10 percent of continental GDP," it added.

The Economic Report on Africa 2010 is jointly published by the UNECA and the African Union Commission.

The report is said to be a major African Report tracking performance on African economies and raising challenging themes to stimulate policy debate globally on Africa.

This year's theme is "Promoting High-level Sustainable Growth to Reduce Unemployment in Africa."