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- ItemAERC Insight_Issue 08_May 2024(AERC, 2024) AERCGender mainstreaming is at the heart of the African Economic Research Consortium’s (AERC) activities. Despite progress made in recent years, gender inequalities persist in various domains within the consortium. Gender mainstreaming at AERC begins by acknowledging that women encounter barriers when pursuing and maintaining careers in economics. These obstacles can manifest as conflicts between domestic duties, professional aspirations, and financial constraints. At AERC, we are dedicated to providing equal opportunities for women to prevent them from being disproportionately affected compared to men. There is a growing willingness within the organisation to “mainstream” concerns about academic gendered impacts in our research and training programmes, as evidenced notably by the adoption of policies that are geared towards women’s empowerment. Gender is the main theme of this newsletter and gender mainstreaming is clearly essential for securing social justice for women. As these efforts to mainstream gender get traction at AERC, it is important to assess ways that existing provisions on gender help or hinder the achievement of gender equality. In this newsletter, we endeavour to define some of the metrics against which to gauge whether some of our policies are meeting gender equality objectives. The stories published here will enable us to identify and suggest ways to design gender-responsive measures for inclusion in future programmes. This issue of the AERC INSIGHT also encapsulates events, including workshops, conferences, and seminars, which provide you with a taste of AERC’s outputs. On events, we feature the AERC Biannual Research Workshop and Celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD). There is also a section on programme activities and human resource news. I look forward to connecting with you each quarter. Please read this AERC INSIGHT and share it with your friends. I welcome any feedback, comments and questions that you may have about the information provided therein and suggestions of topics you would like to see in future newsletters.
- ItemAERC Insight_Issue 07_November 2023(2023) AERCIn this edition, we are keen to share news on the AERC Biannual Research Workshop, a flagship event whose plenary attracts over 300 researchers, academics, policymakers, non-state actors and economists. The event provides a forum for participants to interact with a global network of professionals to discuss issues relevant to Africa’s economic development. Other stories featured include AERC thematic and collaborative research projects, training activities, including joint facilities for electives, events AERC is featured in, like the exciting session at the Third Edition of the African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD III), new publications as well as success stories from esteemed members of the AERC network family. We also present in this edition inspiring stories about our alumni network members. These are fellows who have benefited from the AERC capacitybuilding programmes, Dear Readers, As a member of the AERC community, we are thrilled to welcome you to the latest issue of our newsletter. As the AERC continues to deliver on its mandate across the continent by creating an innovative blend of research, training, and policy outreach activities, it remains a priority for the secretariat to update all its stakeholders on the latest stories, reports, studies, publications, and testimonials. In this regard, we feature Christian Mwemezi’s personal experience during his Collaborative Master’s Programme (CMAP) at the University of Ghana. As the end of the year is fast approaching, the AERC is already embarking on a major overhaul of its operations to remain relevant and move with the times. This has been one of my priorities as the interim executive director. It includes a more innovative resource mobilisation strategy, a more customer-oriented operations strategy and a more inclusive talent management structure within the secretariat and the network. As thedigital revolution is in full swing across the continent, you will find through our articles, how the AERC training and research programmes have evolved to ensure that our researchers and students remain in touch with the latest trends across the industry.
- ItemAERC Insight_Issue 06_June 2023(AERC, 2023) AERCWe are excited to share some thrilling updates and news from our organization. It’s a pretty exciting moment for me, and the edition is packed with all the latest insights. I hope it will inform and inspire you in equal measure. As I take the wheels of this prestigious institution as the first ever Francophone West African Executive Director, I will strive to ensure that the AERC continues its journey to build a more sustainable and inclusive world for all our African citizens. I haveembarked on a significant transformation of AERC to meet the expectations of our diverse range of stakeholders on a global scale. The world has undergone a seismic shift, and our continent faces new challenges and opportunities that we cannot ignore. AERC must transform to remain relevant and impactful in its various activities and collaborations. We must strive for excellence in all our endeavours. Research standards have evolved, and stakeholder demands have become more robust. AERC must Accept this change, Adapt to it, and adjust to it. AERC must speak to the rest of Africa, not only Sub-Saharan Africa and the world. I would like to see AERC recognized as an international institution of excellence in knowledge generation and dissemination, capable of influencing policies on the continent. Stories that form the content of this newsletter include a lead article on “Recovery Agenda from Multiple Shocks”. In the last two decades, African economies have suffered global economic shocks that the Covid-19 pandemic compounded. They have, however, remained resilient in the face of the pandemic’s impacts which affected the core of key macroeconomic indicators. In the newsletter, we also cover activities within the research and training programmes, new publications, and significant events the organization has hosted during the quarter. I look forward to connecting with you each quarter and providing as much information as possible on the incredible work accomplished by the staff and the AERC network. So please enjoy this read and share it with your friends. I welcome all feedback, comments, and questions about the information provided and suggestions for topics you would like to see in future newsletters. I want to thank the AERC, staff, Board of Directors, and the AERC network for trusting me with the leadership of this important institution. I will make it my mission to uphold the institution’s reputation and legacy as we battle into the future.
- ItemAERC Insight_Issue 05_March 2023(2023) AERCIn this issue, we are sharing a lot of information including the forthcoming AERC Senior Policy Seminar on Human Capital Development in Africa; The 57th Plenary Session of the AERC Biannual Research Workshop, which was on African Economies: Recovery Agenda from Multiple Shocks; Maturation and Admission of Universities; Modernisation of AERC’s Digital Ecosystem; Collaborative Research Projects; Alumni as well as other significant events. I know that by closely following AERC’s activities, we can see how the organisation is taking intentional and conscious steps to transform lives. We have for more than 30 years come up with many innovative research initiatives as well as designed steps on how we can navigate the continent’s terrain to influence economic policies to transform lives in Africa. Thus, it feels like an exciting time to be at AERC and share these research outputs. The theme for this issue of the INSIGHT is pretty consistent with the many African problems, given the fact that Human capital—the education, skills, and health of people — plays a pivotal role in the transformation of African economies. And it is important to note that sub-Saharan Africa scores the lowest of all the world’s regions on the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, which is a measurement of how well countries invest in the next generation of workers. AERC continues to showcase its considerable influence across the continent, and this latest manifestation comes in the form of the appointment of our former Executive Director, Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, as Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning for the Republic of Kenya. This is an immense honour for us, and for the whole network of AERC. I wish to acknowledge the incredible work and legacy left behind by Prof. Ndung’u, one of the most fervent supporters of AERC and its mandate for the continent. I hope this newsletter will offer you something of value as we strive as an organisation to build a solid foundation for significant and sustainable changes across so many sectors. I’m looking forward to receiving comments from you to help us improve on subsequent issues. I welcome all feedback, observations, and questions you may have on the various topics and news items in this edition. Feel free to read on and share with your friends. It’s free, and most importantly, it’s fun!
- ItemAERC Insight_Issue 04_September 2022(2022-09) AERCThe carefully curated content will help you stay constantly on top of our news and understand how AERC is bringing change and impact across the continent. As you may know, we have in the recent past made important decisions about streamlining our brand portfolio, now featuring an improved website and more impactful social media dissemination. And our purpose is to refresh the network with insightful news as well as make a difference, even as we continue to invest in partnerships with our stakeholders across the globe. A central focus for this quarter is to look at some of our current and former students that have benefitted from the schemes and programmes offered by AERC. We wanted their first-hand testimonials on how the AERC had impacted their academic and professional horizons, and how they are bringing these skills and knowledge into the policy sphere. Additionally, we are developing a discussion platform for AERC alumni. In this edition of the AERC Insight, we also share proceedings of the 56th of June 2022, Biannual Research Workshop on the theme, “Poverty, Growth, Redistribution, and Social Inclusion in Times of Covid-19 Pandemic in Africa”. It is important to note that in sub-Saharan Africa, we are constantly at risk of being pushed back into extreme poverty during economic downturns and other external shocks. The pandemic has worsened the situation for many countries, and without steps to address these disparities, the risks this trend poses will continue to grow. African governments must therefore adopt a progrowth poverty reduction strategy as a key policy element to achieve sustainable poverty reduction. This conclusion generated from the frontier work by the AERC shows that growth significantly reduces poverty and supplemented by targeted social protection programs will flatten inequality in the long run. We also give insights into a roundtable discussion on the theme, “Modelling Kenya’s future” emanating from the Kenya Country Study: Current Path and Scenario Analysis Report. Other events included in this issue are Admission of the Third Francophone University into the AERC CPP Programme; Induction of former AERC Executive Director, Prof. Lemma Senbet as AIB Fellow; How AERC is Staying on Top of Cybersecurity Threats; AERC Alumni narratives; Summer Master Class on Research Methods; Blended Learning; AERC Thematic and Collaborative Research Projects and Workshops, among other activities. Our strategy continues to be underpinned by global goals and specific context-based targets as outlined in some of the articles here. They will enable us to measure our progress toward reaching our vision, namely, sustained development in sub-Saharan Africa, grounded in sound economic management and an informed society. I do hope that we have hit on a few of your favourites reads in this latest issue!