The World Bank is warning that the global economic crisis threatens Africa's economic reforms such as free trade.

The question of how the recession is affecting Africa is important because parts of the continent were starting to get their economic act together.

Some countries like Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Botswana were improving their economic performance markedly until the onset of the global financial crisis.

As part of the BBC's Taking the Pulse of the Global Economy, the BBC's Steve Evans talked to Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank's chief economist for Africa, about how he saw the current economic situation.

First broadcast on 19 June 2009