News

Innovation and incubation

for africa transformation

African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) held its 48th Biannual Research Workshop in Port Louis, Mauritius from 3-6 June 2018. The Biannual is unique – combining learning-by-doing research, peer review, mentoring and networking to build and strengthen the capacity of African researchers. The workshop brings together many economists from around the African continent and globally fulfilling one of our major mandates – to strengthen local capacity for conducting independent, rigorous inquiry into problems facing the management of economies in sub-Saharan Africa

AERC organizes two biannual research workshops annually in June and December.

The 48th Plenary Session

The first day of the workshop, Sunday June 3rd, 2018, featured  the 48th Plenary Session on the theme “Innovation and Incubation for Africa Transformation” followed by three days of five concurrent sessions (June 4-6, 2018) with June 5, 2018 dedicated to technical sessions, where individual researchers interact with resource persons to discuss their presentation and receive feedback on improving the quality of their research.

The following four plenary papers were presented and discussed:

• The Role Innovation in Africa’s Development by Dr Domenico Fanizza, African Development Bank, Cote d’Ivoire.
• Barriers to Agricultural Innovation in Northern Ghana by Prof. Christopher Udry, Northwestern University, USA.
• FinTech in Developing Nations: What Has Worked Well and What Hasn’t?  by Prof. David L. Yermack, Leonard N. Stern School of Business Kaufman Management Center, USA
• Barriers to Agricultural Innovation in Northern Ghana by Prof. Erika Kraemer Mbula, The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARchi) Industrial Development.

The plenary session was followed by a policy roundtable dialogue on similar themes.

The Concurrent Sessions

The five concurrent sessions of the Biannual started on Monday, June 4, 2018 and featured nearly 90 presentations of research proposals, work in progress documents, final reports and PhD thesis post-field reports. The reports covered a wide range of topics that fit into the five focal areas of AERC’s thematic research programme:

Group A: Poverty, Labour Markets and Income Distribution
Group B: Macroeconomic Policy and Growth
Group C: Finance and Resource Mobilization
Group D: Production, Trade and Economic Integration
Group E: Agriculture, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management

Our Biannual attracts over 200 researchers, academics, policy makers and other economists who participate in the Research Programme. The Biannual provides a forum for participants to meet within a worldwide network of professionals to address issues relevant for Africa’s economic development. They also provide an opportunity for monitoring the progress and quality of the various research projects sponsored by AERC.