Many countries in Africa have seen dramatic economic transformation in recent years. From impressive economic growth to transformational developments, such as Kenya’s emergence as a major global supplier of cut flowers, innovative uses of mobile phones in accessing financial services, disseminating agricultural market information and providing low-cost technology for smallholders. A number of second-generation of dynamic, emerging market economies are beginning to show up in Africa. The favorable trend reflects improved business climate in these economies, market-based policies, innovation, and increasing reliance on country-specific, home-grown approaches to the challenges and opportunities that each country faces. While the present global financial and economic crisis threatens to undermine this positive trend, a better understanding of the achievements, a review of lessons learned from the successes, and sound policy response to the global economic environment will be needed in order to sustain the transformation.
In spite of the progress made in recent years, a large proportion of Africans have yet to benefit from the recent successes of economic growth and development. Too many still live in abject poverty. A significant knowledge gap remains regarding appropriate public policy and institutional support that will be needed to provide effective service delivery for the poor, as well as economic and social services that help improve their productivity, and provide them with opportunities to share the fruits of growth and development more equitably.
African Centre for Economic Growth (ACEG) has a long and successful involvement in advising governments, regional organizations, and bilateral development partner agencies on a wide-range of development policy issues across the East and Southern African region. ACEG’s aim is to help close the knowledge gap through sound research that informs policymakers in formulating sound and implementable policy. It is ACEG’s mission as a policy research organization to advocate policy that supports broad-based and equitable economic growth.
Historically, the issues given prominence in ACEG’s Program Agenda are those that directly affect the poor. They include sustaining economic growth, enlarging access to economic opportunities, promoting sustainable financial services to micro and small enterprises, nurturing sustainable rural livelihoods, promoting entrepreneurship and productivity of private enterprises, encouraging civic engagement, and building capacity for the voiceless and the powerless to demand effective participation in decision making.
ACEG’s Program Agenda seeks to elicit government response and enhance public awareness of the policies that work to promote broad-based economic growth and reduce poverty and inequality. ACEG’s Program Agenda includes the following thematic areas: poverty and equity, private enterprise development and growth, regional integration, accountable governance, management of external resources for growth and development, trade, and competitiveness. In addition to these thematic areas, cross-cutting topics like gender, environment, human rights, and the use of information communication technologies for socio-economic development are also of interest in the ACEG Program Agenda.
