AERC’s flagship Biannual Research Workshop to focus on African Economies’ Recovery Agenda

With African Economies: Recovery Agenda from Multiple Shocks as its theme, the African Economic Research Consortium’s (AERC) 57^th Biannual Research Workshop kicks off with a plenary session beginning at 9:00 am on Sunday, 27 November 2022 at Trademark Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Welcoming and opening Remarks will be delivered by Professor Théophile T. Azomahou, Acting Executive Director and Director of Training, AERC; Professor Ernest Aryeetey, Chair of the AERC Board, and Hon. Professor Njuguna Ndung’u, Outgoing Executive Director, AERC and Cabinet Secretary, The National Treasury and Planning, Government of Kenya. These remarks will be followed by a memorial lecture in honour of Prof. Benno Ndulu, by Professor Stephen A. O’Connell, Gil and Frank Mustin Professor of Economics, Swarthmore College.

“Africa is home to the world’s youngest population, and it is where human needs are greatest globally, creating added urgency to act now to build a better future. With the recent COVID-19 crisis, Africa experienced an unprecedented economic shock” said Ag. AERC Executive Director Prof. Azomahou. Despite the efforts made by various authorities to support their economies, the measures deployed have been relatively low compared with the recovery plans applied elsewhere, notably in the developed countries.

The recovery from the shock that is taking shape therefore runs the risk of being uneven, widening the differences within Africa itself and between Africa, and the rest of the world. The current debate today focuses on how this can be avoided. Beyond the support already deployed, there is an urgent need to find lasting solutions to finance Africa’s economies. And, together, we need to chart a path to a more resilient recovery.

The plenary session will be chaired by Professor Ibrahim Elbadawi, Managing Director, Economic Research Forum, Cairo, Egypt, and it will feature four presentations by eminent economists including Dr. Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of UNECA, Professor Stefan Dercon, Director, Center for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford, Dr. Amar Bhattacharya, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution, and Professor Kevin Gallagher, Director, Global Policy Center, Boston University.

A roundtable discussion on the same theme will close the plenary agenda. Chaired by Honourable Professor Njuguna Ndung’u, panellists will comprise African policy makers and analysts, who will review various experiences, achievements and drawbacks on the recovery agenda and give suggestions for additional policies and strategies that should be considered to enhance resilience to shocks, and foster an environment favorable for sustained growth, and therefore economic development in Africa. Following the plenary session of the Biannual research workshop there will be four special sessions including two presentations and two book launches.

A Special Issue Journal titled, “Rethinking Regional Integration in Africa for Inclusive Sustainable Development” edited by Andy McKay, Olawale Ogunkola and Haji Hatibu Semboja will be launched on 29 November, while a UNU-WIDER book length volume titled “The Job Ladder: Transforming Informal Work and Livelihoods in Developing Countries” edited by Gary Michael will be launched on 30 November.

Concurrent sessions of the workshop start on Monday, 28 November 2022. They will feature 79 presentations (59 face-to-face and 20 virtual) of research proposals, work in progress, final reports, and interim PhD thesis reports.