Africa is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty. While many countries were successful in reducing poverty during the years before the pandemic, its economic disruptions coupled with climate disasters and food and fuel inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have put spanners in the wheels. Growing vulnerabilities to climate events like droughts and floods, food insecurity as well as widening fragility in several parts of the continent darken the outlook. A burgeoning youth population faces poor prospects for productive employment, raising social tensions and robbing countries of their demographic dividend.