And the problem will only accelerate as the population on the continent grows in the coming decades.
The IMF and World Bank were created 22 July, 1944 in the shadow of World War II to help rebuild Europe and later Japan, and to try to head off the kind of economic strife that had led to the war.
One major risk in the coming year is the sharp drop-off in world trade growth, which fell from over 5% at the beginning of 2018 to nearly zero at the end.
The organisation, which groups the top developed economies, said it had trimmed its growth forecast for 2019 to 3.5% from the previous 3.7%.
The IMF maintained its forecast that Asia’s economy will expand by 5.6% this year but cut its projection for next year to 5.4%, down by 0.2 point from April.
Trade tensions have escalated, policy uncertainties have increased in a number of countries, and some emerging market economies are facing financial market pressures.
The IMF's baseline forecast for the global economy is 3.7% growth in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
There are also signs that the crisis may have had lasting effects on potential growth through its impact on fertility rates and migration, as well as on income inequality.
The Chinese equity stock market — as represented by Shanghai stock market — actually peaked in 2015.
US President Donald Trump chose last week to pronounce on land reform in South Africa.
Around 30 economists polled expect Africa’s second-largest economy to grow by 1.4% this year and by 1.9% next, slightly lower than the median view last month.
A common narrative for the start of the financial crisis suggests that credit agencies downplayed the riskiness of RMBS, drawing in lenders who did not appreciate their intrinsic risk.
Mahathir said the ideal would be a broad trade pact such as the East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC) he proposed during his previous administration.
The current upswing provides an ideal opportunity for reforms to boost potential output, build resilience, and ensure the benefits of growth are shared more widely.
Americans have yet to embrace the US stock market with the same fervour as before, holding fewer individual stocks and putting less money into equities overall.
In the developed world, 2017 will likely be recalled as a period of stark contrast, with many economies experiencing growth acceleration, alongside political fragmentation.
