CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Launch of the Report | Prospects for a Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery in Africa

February 28, 2022
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. ET
WEBINAR

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The pandemic exposed a range of problems from poor data and high levels of informality in the private sector to comparatively low digital connectedness, inequality, and poor health and education systems. It also provided a catalyst for change. How much economic damage was caused and how will African economies recover?

Using information from five African countries—Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa—researchers Lyal White, Liezl Rees, Heinrich Volmink, and Nikitta Hahn have produced a new report with insights into the economic impact of COVID-19 and prospects for a post-pandemic recovery in Africa. In a virtual event moderated by Robert Y. Shapiro and Wilmot G. James, panelists Joseph Stiglitz, Sheila Jasanoff, and Njuguna Ndung’u joined the authors to discuss findings. 

EVENT MATERIALS

•   OTHER (1)
  • REPORT | The Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Prospects for a Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery in Africa

Report Authors

LYAL WHITE is the founder of research and advisory practice Contextual Intelligence, Director of the Academy of Business Futures at Cadena Growth Partners, and Research Associate at the Brenthurst Foundation. Prior to this, he was the founding Director of the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, where he retains a Senior Research and Visiting Faculty role.

LIEZL REES IS head of the Centre for African Business at the Johannesburg Business School, University of Johannesburg. She is involved in the writing of teaching case studies, journal articles and white papers, and runs regular events and executive programmes which explore the context, challenges and opportunities of doing business in Africa.

HEINRICH VOLMINK is a medical doctor and specialist in public health medicine. He previously served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in National Assembly of South Africa, sitting consecutively on the Portfolio Committee on Health, and on Water and Sanitation. 

NIKITTA HAHN is a researcher and writer, based in Johannesburg South Africa. Her research interests focus on economic development in the African context and alternative measures of economic progress. Nikitta has held various research-related roles in South African academic institutions including currently, the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria (UP).

Panelists

JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is also the co-chair of the High-Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress at the OECD, and the Chief Economist of the Roosevelt Institute. A recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the John Bates Clark Medal (1979), he is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and a former chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers.

NJUGUNA NDUNG'U is the Executive Director of the African Economic Research Consortium based in Kenya. He is the immediate Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, and he has previously held positions at the University of Nairobi, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA).

SHEILA JASONOFF is Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School. A pioneer in the social sciences, she explores the role of science and technology in the law, politics, and policy of modern democracies. Her books include The Fifth Branch, Science at the Bar, Designs on Nature, The Ethics of Invention, and Can Science Make Sense of Life?

Moderators

ROBERT Y. SHAPIRO is President of The Academy of Political Science and Editor of Political Science Quarterly. He is also the Wallace S. Sayre Professor of Government and Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

WILMOT G. JAMES is Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) at Columbia University and Chair of the Center for Pandemic Research.

Event Co-Sponsors

Center for Pandemic Research at the Insitute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University
Columbia Global Centers in Nairobi and Tunis
The Academy of Political Science
The Brenthurst Foundation (Johannesburg)

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