African voices on research, policy, and international development in sub-Saharan Africa

Can local researchers and aid agencies work together to strengthen policy decisions and outcomes? Too often there is a disconnect between the advice of research of scholars on the ground and the international actors and African policymakers themselves, despite their shared goals of positive impacts on social and economic development. Much potential for growth, implementation of innovation, and opportunities for fresh interventions are being missed. So, what are the obstacles preventing these conversations from bearing fruit? Have there been successful areas of collaboration between aid agencies and African academics? How might we foster more success stories?

Under this theme, on October 6, the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative, the Global Development Network, and the African Economic Research Consortium hosted an event in which African researchers and aid agency staff engaged African policymakers in conversations on the present and future of policy in two key areas for the continent—financial inclusion and agriculture—based on available policy knowledge and scientific evidence. The event was part of a USAID-funded program through which GDN and AERC specifically are supporting the emergence of African voices in academic and policy debates on aid to sub-Saharan Africa.