Mary Muduuli, administratrice de la BAD pour la Tanzanie

Nous souhaitons la bienvenue à tout le monde à Arusha. Tout est fin prêt et tout va très bien. La plupart des délégués sont déjà là. Les évènements parallèles ont débuté, et les gens y participent avec enthousiasme. Nous attendons beaucoup de ces Assemblées annuelles. Les journalistes sont présents et s’entretiennent avec les participants. Tout va très bien, et nous en sommes contents. Les réactions sont bonnes.

The Executive Director of the African Economic Research Consortium, William Lyakurwa

How research help the continent face the challenges emerging from the global crisis?

“Speaking on behalf of the entire network of economists of Sub Saharan Africa and beyond that the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) represents, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the substance and gravity of the discussions in this year’s series of seminars on the general theme of ‘Africa in the New Emerging Landscape: Challenges and Opportunities.’”.

On a personal level, in more than 30 years of engagement with policy discourse, I have watched the domino effects of discussions as  weighty as we have had today have a positive impact on citizens’ welfare on two important counts.

The first and most important of these is heightened awareness of those in key policy making positions to the issues at stake. This is not to say that those conducting research are spared either. I can bet my last Tanzanian shilling that none of us will approach Africa’s role globally in the same way after all the interactions we have had today.

The second and equally important impact of today’s event is the cross-pollination of ideas – learning from each other’s successes and challenges, and together galvanizing our focus to better manage the opportunities and challenges facing our continent today, for a brighter future tomorrow

For policy making to have any meaning or to be effective, it has to be informed by the results of rigorous, empirical research. Similarly, policy relevant research on its own cannot be effective in informing the policy making process. Therefore for optimal effect, we are obliged to have an avenue for interactions between research output and policy makers.

The Annual meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) provides such an avenue. An added feature of the profile of the meeting participants  is that a growing number of individuals grounded in research have crossed over to the policy making arena, and are thus in a position to formulate policies that are relevant in context.

Pulling off the four high level seminars as well as side events is no mean feat and certainly deserves commendation. The seminars and side events addressed themes that are critical of the management growth and development of African economies. More importantly, they have drawn from policy oriented research that is geared towards informing the policy making process without which there would have been empty talk. The presence of well-informed policy makers in the workshops enriched the discussion and there was something for everybody as a take away.