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Date

2022/8/23 (Tue)17:00-18:30（JST）

Field

Resilient Economy

Type of Event

Online Webinar

Co-Host

African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET)/African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD)

Background

During the first decade of the 2000s, Africa experienced growth acceleration that brought unprecedented hopes of prosperity. It was mostly propelled by a boom in the global demand for primary commodities and geared toward the external markets, with little synergies with the rest of the economy. When that external demand weakened in the wake of the 2006-2007 global financial crisis and the end of the commodity super-cycle in 2014-2015, Africa’s growth collapsed, and the old, deep-seated, structural weaknesses of African economies resurfaced. The COVID-19 pandemic found Africa desperately unprepared to withstand yet another global shock. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the necessity and urgency of Africa accelerating economic transformation to enhance the resilience of its economic structures to exogenous economic shocks. There is, therefore, an urgent need to renew our focus on this age-old question of economic transformation, but this time, with a link to economic resilience in the context of global and regional trends and with the intention to inform ongoing and future policy discussions.

Key Questions

• What should “economic transformation” look like in today’s global and continental context, given the post-pandemic challenges and opportunities?
• What policy choices and interventions are required for African economies at different levels of economic transformation, resilience, and demographic characteristics?
• What challenges and opportunities are countries encountering in transforming their economies, particularly with regards to population dynamics, climate risks, natural resource stress, digitalization, technological innovation, and social inclusion?

Objective

• Exploring what it will take for Africa to achieve an upgraded rebuild after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to enhance its economic resilience against future shocks through economic transformation in the context of current global, continental, and regional trends
• Discussing the roles of various stakeholders, including African governments, the private sector, civil society, regional organizations, and international partners to support such efforts

Speakers

Ms. Cina Lawson

Minister, Ministry of Digital Economy and Transformtaion, Togolese Republic

Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thomas

CEO of AUDA-NEPAD

Mr. Martin Bwalya

Director of Knowledge Management and Program Evaluation, AUDA-NEPAD

Dr. Roberto J Tibana

Director of Research, African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET)

Ms. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon

Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa, ILO

Prof. Joseph E. Stiglitz

University Professor, Columbia University and Co-Founder and President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue

Prof. OHNO Izumi

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) and Senior Research Advisor, JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development

Dr. TANAKA Akihiko

President, JICA

*The deadline for registration is 17:00, Monday, August 22 (Japan time).