19th November, 2023
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has inaugurated the Bank’s Maiden report on “Benchmark Macroeconomic Models for Effective Policy Management in Africa”.
Prof. Kevin Urama, the Chief Economist and Vice-President of Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, AfDB, inaugurated the report on the sidelines of the African Economic Conference (AEC) in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to Urama, the report is a product of collaboration between AfDB’s Institute and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).
He said it was an implementation activity of the Bank’s Capacity Development Strategy approved by its Board of Directors in 2021.
While thanking all who supported the process of conducting the report, he reiterated the bank’s commitment to strengthening Africa’s capacity for effective macro-economic governance, policy-making and implementation.
Urama highlighted critical implementation programmes of the Bank’s Capacity Development Strategy to ensure growth, sustainable development, and the achievement of Africa’s Agenda 2063.
He said the key implementation capacities development programme was the Executive Training Programme on Macro-Economic Policy Management in Africa (MEMA).
“The study that informed the report we are inaugurating today was commissioned to understand better the existing macro-economic modelling capabilities and tools in all African Countries.
“It aims to inform the curriculum and capacity development programmes of MEMA that address the capacity development needs of countries.
Urama said macroeconomic models provided tools for countries to effectively understand and predict the behaviour of their economies, analyse policy response options, evaluate possible outcomes, and guide their implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
“This report provides an inventory of existing models and modelling capacity in African countries based on an Africa-wide survey implemented by the Bank Group.
“It examines the relevance of the existing models to African development realities in the face of recurrent and dynamic challenges.
“Considering the significant heterogeneity in economic structures across the 54 African countries,” he said.
Urama said it was important for policymakers to make policy decisions more straightforwardly and better understand their economic environment.
NAN