African Member States have made remarkable progress towards achieving the MDGs despite difficult initial conditions. Indeed, previous MDG Progress Reports for Africa have shown that when effort and initial conditions are factored in, African countries are among the top achievers of the MDGs. A study of countries accelerating the most rapidly towards the MDGs found that eight of the world’s top ten best performers are in Africa. Further, progress was more rapid in least-developed countries (LDCs) than in non-LDCs despite the significant investments in infrastructure and human capital that countries at very low levels of development require to achieve the MDGs.