Page 14 - AERC Strategic Plan 2 July2020

THE AERC 2020–2025 STRATEGIC PLAN

About the African Economic Research

Consortium

Established in 1988, the AERC is a premier capacity-building institution in the advancement
of research and graduate training in economics to inform economic policies in sub-
Saharan Africa (SSA). The mission of AERC is to strengthen local capacity for conducting
independent, rigorous inquiry into problems pertinent to the management of African
economies. The AERC pursues its mission through a synergetic programme combining
research with postgraduate training in economics and supported by an interactive
communications and policy outreach. AERC’s mission rests on two premises: first, that
development is more likely to occur where there is sustained and sound management of
the economy; second, that such management is more likely to happen where there is an
active, well-informed cohort of locally based professional economists to conduct policy-
relevant research. This capacity building also directly supplies economic policy analysts
to the public sector and think tanks in SSA.

AERC builds that cohort through a programme that has three primary components:
research, training, and policy outreach. The organization integrates high-quality
economic policy research, postgraduate training, and policy outreach within a vast
network of researchers, universities, and policymakers across Africa and the globe. These
three pathways for change render policy research relevant for practice. They also allow
lessons from experience and skills garnered from formal training and learning-by-doing to
be harnessed and disseminated for evidence-based policy impact. The AERC Secretariat
coordinates network programmes and activities across SSA countries.

The networking and collaboration model – the linking of individuals and institutions into
a knowledge-sharing and experience-sharing framework – builds the profession in a way
that capacity building alone cannot do: it is the key strategic instrument for implementing
AERC activities.

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