The publication of this year's Africa Competitiveness Report 2007 (ACR) marks a new level of cooperation in Africa. It is the first report on the region's business environment to present a dual perspective based on a combination of aggregate perception data and firm-level data capturing the actual costs of operating in national business environments; and the first to leverage knowledge and expertise within the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum. The Report presents a unified vision and a mapping of the policy challenges that countries on the continent may address as a foundation for sustainable growth and prosperity. The present report comes amid renewed optimism against the background of a much more encouraging regional business environment that is better now than it has been for years. This report is an ongoing collaboration among the three institutions. This report is intended as a tool for African decision makers from private and public circles. The report also includes detailed competitiveness and investment climate profiles, providing a comprehensive summary of the drivers of investment and competitiveness in each of the countries included in the report.