Africa’s economic development is at the cross-roads. The 20 pre-pandemic years have been – for some parts of Africa – the most transformative since independence. Yet, there is a long way to go. First, the transformation needs to regain its momentum to lead to sustained increases in productivity, income and living standards. Second, its patterns must turn more inclusive to ensure that the potential gains from development are shared more equally. Third, a sustainable economic transformation in Africa can contribute to addressing global as well as local environmental problems, from climate change to deforestation and biodiversity loss. Fourth, development strategies will have to adjust to and be compatible with global changes, including the global energy transition and the geo-political tensions with repercussions on international trade and investment, which entail challenges and opportunities. Fifth, economic integration – both regionally and globally – has to turn into a major driver of sustainable development. While achieving higher value addition is an important element of integration strategies, more sustainable commodity exports and mineral extraction should remain high on the agenda.

The Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) in collaboration with the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy organized this two-day policy conference on “Accelerating Africa’s economic transformation towards shared prosperity and sustainability” from 21 to 22 November 2023 at the University of Ghana, Legon. The conference allowed for discussing most recent policy-relevant research findings on Africa’s economic development, its present patterns and future. It brings together political scientists and economists from Ghana, other African countries, Germany and the UK.

MIASA Directors Dr. Grace Diabah and Dr. Susann Baller underlined in their welcome address that the institute’s fellowship programme and academic events aim at increasing the role and impact of African thinking in global knowledge production. Moreover, they noted that this conference contributes to one of MIASA’s key goals to bridge research and practice. Programme committee member Prof. Jann Lay (GIGA) explained in his introductory remarks that Africa’s economic development is at the cross-roads, and for the majority of African countries, the twenty pre-pandemic years have been the most transformative since independence. Yet, there are many open questions in how to make increases in productivity, income and living standards more sustainable, how prosperity is shared, and how to tackle environmental problems and climate change.

The two opening keynotes offered insights into these questions. Professor Kevin Chika Urama, Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance & Knowledge Management at the African Development Bank Group, addressed the issue of how to rethink industrial policies in Africa by ensuring a climate-smart approach. Growth alone is not enough, if it is not sustainable on a long-term perspective. African countries should therefore take the global green transition as an opportunity to enhance development. Prof. Stefan Dercon, Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at the University of Oxford, demonstrated that the success of “development bargains” cannot be achieved through preformulated recipes, but it highly depends on how committed to development the political and entrepreneurial elites of a country are and how willing they are to learn. A policy panel with a senior economist from the Accra-based African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), Dr. Edward K. Brown, and a Senior Research Fellow from the Institute for Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Dr Ama Fenny, discussed these observations in regard to economic policy in Ghana, stressing that policy implementation rather needs to increase productivity than consumption.

The first conference day included a poster session at which PhD students and early-career scholars from Ghana and Nigeria shared their research findings on private investments, the global value chain, exchange rate politics, how financial inclusion impact rural economy, how infrastructural development matters, and how health insurances can improve development in times of economic uncertainty. Six panels offered additional perspectives on these topics, including on Foreign Direct Investments, development assistance interventions for better jobs and the implementation of Special Economic Zones. The second conference day included two keynotes by economists from the University of Ghana, Legon, on “Inclusive Policies for Vulnerable Populations in the Covid-19 Recovery Period” (Prof. Nkechi Owoo) and on “Leveraging digitization for Africa’s Development” (Dr. Edward Asiedu).

Organized by: Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), at the University of Ghana, Legon/Accra, Ghana

In collaboration with: Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Germany, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany

Keynote speeches/roundtable participants:

Stefan Dercon, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford (virtual)

Kevin Chika Urama, African Development Bank, tbc

Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi or Edward K. Brown, African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET)

Program Committee:

Charles Ackah, ISSER

Jann Lay, GIGA, MIASA and University of Goettingen, Germany

Abena Oduro, MIASA and University of Ghana

Rainer Thiele, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany

Press releases:

• "MIASA Policy Conference Draws Attention to Accelerating Africa's Economic Transformation", University of Ghana article, 3rd December 2023
• "MIASA holds policy conference", African Editors, 23rd November 2023
• "MIASA holds second policy conference aimed at accelerating Africa's economic transformation". Modern Ghan2 November, 2023.