60th Anniversary of International Monetary Fund African Department Conference
Dec
15
8:30 AM08:30

60th Anniversary of International Monetary Fund African Department Conference

60th Anniversary of International Monetary Fund African Department Conference

Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Time: 8:30 AM -11:25 AM EST

Agenda:

8:30AM-8:40AM

Welcome remarks: Antoinette Sayeh (Deputy Managing Director, IMF)


8:30AM-9:55AM

IMF and Africa: Sixty Years of Africa’s Development

IMF African Department Director Abebe Aemro Selassie chairs a roundtable of distinguished panelists for a discussion on economic development in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decades, and the IMF’s evolving role on the continent.

Moderator: Abebe Aemro Selassie (Director, African Department, IMF)

Panelists:

  • Adama Coulibaly (Minister of Economy and Finance, Côte d’Ivoire)

  • Donald Kaberuka (Former President, African Development Bank)

  • Peter Kamalingin (Pan Africa Director, Oxfam)

  • Ngozi Okonjo-Iwaela (Director-General, WTO)



10:05AM-11:25AM

Perspectives on the Future of Africa in a Post-Pandemic World

IMF Deputy Managing Director Bo Li chairs a roundtable of experts to discuss future perspectives on Africa from many dimensions, including economic development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate change adaptation, gender equality, political perspectives, and social achievements.

Moderator: Bo Li (Deputy Managing Director, IMF)

Panelists:

  • Deborah Brautigam (Director, John Hopkins China-Africa Research Initiative)

  • Vera Daves de Sousa (Minister of Finance, Angola)

  • Yaw Nyarko (Professor of Economics, New York University)

  • Charles Robertson (Chief Economist, Renaissance Capital)

  • Vera Songwe (Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa)

About the International Monetary Fund’s Africa Department

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 190 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. IMF’s African Department was created exactly 60 years ago.

Participants will explore the ways that Africa, the IMF, and the African Department have evolved over the past 60 years. The discussion will focus on IMF programs in Africa, greater transparency, enhanced policy dialogue and capacity development. Panelists will include sub-Saharan African policy makers, politicians, financiers, academics, and civil society representatives.

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DevLab Seminar - On the Microfoundations of National Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa
Dec
8
8:45 AM08:45

DevLab Seminar - On the Microfoundations of National Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa

DevLab Seminar with Torsten Figueiredo Walter

Hosted by DevLab at NYU Abu Dhabi

Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Time: 8:45 AM-9:45 AM Eastern Time

Speaker:

  • Torsten Figueiredo Walter (NYUAD) presents On the Microfoundations of National Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa (joint work with Niclas Moneke (Oxford))

Abstract:

National statistics are essential for policy, business and research. Policymakers and private agents use national statistics to inform resource allocation decisions and policy design, researchers use national statistics as inputs to the study of economic processes.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, national statistics are commonly perceived to be of low quality, but systematic evidence of this is scarce. Therefore, the magnitude of errors in national statistics as well as their effects on research findings and policy analysis remain unknown. This project aims to take a first step towards filling this gap.

We propose a systematic approach to measure the extent to which national statistics are consistent with each other in Sub-Saharan Africa. We start from the observation that two concurrently conducted, nationally representative surveys should not yield statistically significantly different estimates of a given population parameter. To put this proposition to an empirical test, we gather all available individual and household survey (e.g., DHS, LSMS, MICS) and census micro data from Sub-Saharan Africa from the 1980s until today and compare statistical indicators derived from different survey instruments within countries over time. Then, we explore the causes of the uncovered discrepancies and their implications for policy and research.

RSVP:

The seminar is for researchers and academics interested in Development topics. If you are interested in joining the seminar, please email us at devlab@nyu.edu.

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Africa House Fireside Chat with Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili
Dec
2
10:00 AM10:00

Africa House Fireside Chat with Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili

Africa House Fireside Chat with Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili

Co-Hosted by NYU Wagner School of Public Service

 
 

Date: Thursday, December 2, 2021

Time: 10:00 AM-11:30 AM Eastern Time

Speakers:

Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Katryn Ezekwesili (Keynote Speaker) is the President of Human Capital Africa and Senior Economic Adviser at Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI). She is the Founder and Chairperson of SPPG (School of Politics, Policy and Governance) established by the #FixPoliticsInitiative, which she also co-chairs. Dr. Ezekwesili is a former Vice President of the World Bank, Africa Region. She was a Minister of Education and also of Mineral Resources of Nigeria. She is Co-Convener of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. In 2019, she was a presidential candidate in the Nigeria elections. Dr. Ezekwesili is currently a Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and was a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin Germany.

 

Dr. Marion Bergman, Director, Oral Health Care Projects, MCW Global (Volunteer) (Speaker introduction)

Dr. Marion Bergman was born and educated in South Africa and practiced Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care in Patchogue, New York for 33 years. During this time she directed Brookhaven Memorial Hospital’s Respiratory Care Services and served a term as Medical Staff President. In addition, Marion regularly mentored medical and international students and, along with her family, provided scholarship support for South African Health professionals from underprivileged backgrounds.

As an advocate for rural health and development in the developing world, Marion now directs Global Healthcare projects for MCW Global. In this capacity, Marion has played a leadership role in improving the state of oral health and building the capacity of health professionals in Tanzania.

 Marion is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at NYU’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing. In addition, she serves on several university health advisory boards, including the Kornberg Dental School at Temple University, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Marion also serves as a trustee on several non-profit boards including the Global Child Dental Fund and Physicians for Human Rights.  She recently completed her term as a trustee of American Jewish World Service including Vice President. Marion is a member of the AJC’s Board of Governors, its Jacob Blaustein Institute for Human Rights and also currently chairs AJC’s Africa Institute.

 

Yaw Nyarko, Professor of Economics, New York University (NYU); Director, NYU Africa House/CTED; Co-Director, NYU Development Research Institute; Director, NYU Abu Dhabi DevLab (Moderator)

 

Paul Smoke, Professor of Public Finance and Planning; Director of Global EMPA, NYU Wagner School of Public Service (Intro remarks on behalf of NYU Wagner)

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