This pamphlet presents the results of an empirical analysis of the factors affecting economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, using data for the period 1981-97 and a sample of 32 countries. The empirical work involved the estimation of a growth equation to identify the key determinants of per capita real GDP growth, including economic variables that reflect the influence of economic policy changes as well as other explanatory factors. On the basis of this analysis and a review of the evidence of economic recovery during 1995-97, using a much larger sample of countries, the pamphlet attempts to determine which policies appear to have been the most effective in terms of increasing economic growth and suggests the key elements of a policy framework that could promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.