Promoting leadership for economic policy in fragile countries in Africa

This project will focus on inclusive finance in fragile countries in sub-Saharan Africa by supporting quality research, capacity development, and policy engagement. It will generate new knowledge and enhance the capacity of researchers and institutions in these countries to formulate appropriate economic policies and sound economic management for successful reconstruction and sustainable development.

Building on IDRC’s past investment, this project will scale up, deepen, and sustain research and training activities for another three years. The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) will implement the project with their well-tested modalities of collaborative research and capacity building. The collaborative research will help to generate new cutting-edge knowledge on gender-responsive inclusive finance in fragile countries.

AERC will train graduate students, strengthen teaching and research skills for faculty, and support the purchase of teaching and learning equipment in select universities. In addition to incorporating gender analysis in the financial inclusion research, this project will also contribute to increasing the proportion of female researchers and resource persons engaged in economic research and graduate training in fragile countries. Finally, it will enhance communication, outreach, and policy engagement and it will develop and implement a strategy to diversify funding.