More than 150 African students from 15 countries participated this week in the 2nd Empowering Africa Workshop, organized by the Navarra Center for International Development (NCID) together with the University of Pennsylvania and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The workshop, which took place on March 21 and 22, served as a connection between some of the brightest African students who aspire to pursue doctoral degrees in economics and leading researchers in this area, who offered them some advice on how to take advantage of their potential to help their countries' development.
Over the course of several sessions spread over two days, the African university students participated in presentations in which leading international researchers explained how economics can help solve real problems and effectively guide public policies. Solutions were presented from different macro and micro perspectives, taking into account disciplines such as development economics and health economics.
The 'Empowering Africa Workshop' arose as a result of the joint reflection between NCID, the University of Pennsylvania and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to support and participate in events to motivate African students to pursue graduate training in economics and acquire the necessary skills to become the leaders of the future and promote the development of their countries: "Africa is experiencing a large population growth that must be accompanied by policies that promote prosperity, stability and modernity of the continent in the medium and long term. Therefore, investing in the training of African university students is a decisive issue for the countries of the continent to take advantage of its abundant potential," said the director of the NCID, Luis Ravina.
Some of the speakers who participated were Jesús Fernández Villaverde, Dirk Krueger, Petra Todd, Andrew Shepard, Sara Casella, Hanbaek Lee and Ryan Zalla, from the University of Pennsylvania, Thorsten Drautzburg and Benjamin Lester, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and Luis Ravina, Ignacio Campomanes and Raúl Bajo, from the NCID. Also participating in the workshop were Aissatou Ouedraogo, Christelle Zozoungbo and Kwabena Krah, three African researchers in Economics who have recently successfully completed a PhD in the United States.
The NCID, of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra, reinforces with the '2nd Empowering Africa Workshop' its international presence and the impact of its research in Africa. The partnership with the University of Pennsylvania and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is instrumental in helping young Africans to develop their research vocation, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).