Twelfth Annual JRCPPF Conference: Catalyzing Macroeconomic Policy for Development in sub-Saharan Africa

Date & Time Feb 23 - 24 2023 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM

Location Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building

Ruehl Room 399

Topics Finance, Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Department Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies Empirical Study of Conflict Project Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Speaker(s)

Abhijit Banerjee

Vera Songwe

Hippolyte Fofack

Ethan Kapstein

Adnan Khan

Cina Lawson

Ibrahim Mayaki

Atif Mian

Jacob Moscano

Victor Murinde

Abdoulaye Ndiaye

Catherine Pattillo

Nina Pavcnik

Richard Rogerson

Zainab Usman

Leonard Wantchekon

Audience Open to the Public, Registration Required

Link Conference Details

As many have noted, Africa’s story will drive world history in the coming century. With 46 countries and close to 1.4 billion people, the continent is huge and diverse. It contains some of the world’s most fragile states and is home to some of humanity's most dynamic entrepreneurs. The continent’s population growth rate of 2.7% is more than double that of South Asia, and much of the population boom will happen in the sub-Saharan region. Meeting development goals for both present needs and future investment requires smart policy and coordinated action.

This year’s conference will explore the macroeconomic policies sub-Saharan African countries should pursue to support development, growth, and long-term economic resilience. The conference will bring together policymakers, academics, and industry experts to explore four areas that will be critical for catalyzing macroeconomic development: industrial policy, monetary and fiscal policies, macroprudential regulations, and regional integration.

The annual conferences hosted by Princeton's Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance convene preeminent researchers, policy experts, and market practitioners from across the globe to exchange ideas and shed new light on the most pressing economic issues of our time. The conference also gives our students exposure to diverse viewpoints and as well as opportunities to interact with leading academics and policymakers.

Watch the seminar over livestream.

Keynote Speakers

Vera Songwe
Chair of the Board of Directors of the Liquidity & Sustainability Facility (LSF); co-Chair of the High-Level Panel on Climate Finance

Abhijit Banerjee
2019 Nobel Laureate for Economics; Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, MIT

Thursday, February 23, 2023

3:15 – 3:30 PM | WELCOME

3:30 – 4:50 PM | SESSION 1: TRADE & REGIONAL FLOWS

Ibrahim Mayaki, African Union Special Envoy for Food Systems; Former CEO, New Economic Partnership for African Development (AUDA-NEPAD)
Hippolyte Fofack, Chief Economist, Director of Research, Africa Export-Import Bank
Nina Pavcnik, Professor, Dartmouth
Leonard Wantchekon, James Madison Professor of Political Economy, Princeton University; Founder, African School of Economics (moderator)

5:00 – 6:00 PM | KEYNOTE: Vera Songwe, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Liquidity & Sustainability Facility (LSF); Former Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

6:00 – 7:00 PM | RECEPTION FOR CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS AND ATTENDEES

7:00 PM | DINNER (INVITATION ONLY)

Friday, February 24, 2023

9:00 – 10:30 AM | SESSION 2: INDUSTRIAL POLICY

Cina Lawson, Minister for Digital Economy and Digital Transformation
Jacob Moscona, Prize Fellow, Harvard University
Richard Rogerson, Charles and Marie Robertson Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Zainab Usman, Senior Fellow, and Director of the Africa Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(moderator) Ethan Kapstein, Visiting Professor and Associate Director of the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project, Princeton University

10:45 AM – 12:15 PM | SESSION 3: INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, DEBT SUSTAINABILITY, AND MANAGING CAPITAL FLOWS

Chris Canavan, Managing Partner, Lions Head Global Capital
Jill Dauchy, Founder and CEO, Potomac Group
Victor Murinde, Professor of International Finance, School of Oriental and African Studies; Founding Director and Professor, The African Development Institute at the African Development Bank
Aart Kraay, Director of Development Policy in the Development Economics Vice Presidency and Deputy Chief Economist, World Bank Group
(moderator) Layna Mosley, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University

12:15 – 12:30 PM | LUNCH

12:45 – 1:45 PM | KEYNOTE: Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation Professor of Economics, MIT

2:00 – 3:30 PM | SESSION 4: FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY

Adnan Khan, Chief Economist to the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK
Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Professor of Economics, NYU
Catherine Pattillo, Deputy Director for the Africa Region, IMF
(moderator) Atif Mian

3:45 – 4:00 PM | CLOSING REMARKS

Speaker Biographies

Chris Canavan, Managing Partner, Lions Head Global Capital

Jill Dauchy, Founder and CEO, Potomac Group

Hippolyte Fofack, Chief Economist and Director of Research, Africa Export-Import Bank

Ethan Kapstein, Visiting Professor and Associate Director of the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project, Princeton University

Adnan Khan, Chief Economist and Director of Economics and Evaluation Directorate, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

Aart Kraay, Director of Development Policy in the Development Economics Vice Presidency and Deputy Chief Economist, World Bank Group

Cina Lawson, Minister for Digital Economy and Digital Transformation, Govt. of Togo

Ibrahim Mayaki, African Union Special Envoy for Food Systems; Former CEO, New Economic Partnership for African Development (AUDA-NEPAD)

Atif Mian, John H. Laporte, Jr. Class of 1967 Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance; Director, Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance, Princeton University

Jacob Moscano, Prize Fellow in Economics, History, and Politics, Harvard University

Layna Mosley, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University

Victor Murinde, Professor of International Finance, SOAS; Founding Director, The African Development Institute, AfDB

Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Assistant Professor of Economics, NYU

Catherine Pattillo, Deputy Director for the Africa Region, IMF

Nina Pavcnik, Niehaus Family Professor in International Studies, Dartmouth University

Richard Rogerson, Charles and Marie Robertson Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

Zainab Usman, Senior Fellow, and Director of the Africa Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Leonard Wantchekon, James Madison Professor of Political Economy, Princeton University; Founder, African School of Economics

Keynote Speakers

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Friday, February 24, 2023

Sponsors