Objectives

The main objectives of the African Economic Conference are:

• To promote knowledge sharing as an important component of good policy design and implementation;
• To foster dialogue and promote the exchange of ideas among economists and African policymakers;
• To encourage and enhance research on economic issues related to the development of African economies;
• To provide an opportunity for regional and sub-regional organizations to disseminate the results of their research and share information with African policymakers.

For the Bank and the ECA, the AEC further provides a forum that fosters dialogue and exchange of ideas in the search of solutions to many challenges facing African economies. Such exchange of ideas will help the two institutions to target their interventions better and thus improve their relevance and effectiveness.

In 2009 about 400 participants are expected to attend. While the majority of the participants are expected to be African academics, policy makers, private sector operators and representatives of non-governmental organizations, the Bank’s executive directors as well as staff and management of the Bank and the ECA, will also attend the Conference. In addition, participants from other regions of the world will share experiences from which some lessons for Africa can be drawn.