AERC 2015-2021

AERC has implemented the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan with several key milestones being realized. The objectives have been achieved, except for the engagement with private sector (objective 3). Also, the objective to enhance the AERC visibility, outreach and policy engagement (objective 4) has been halting, but AERC increased its efforts in reaching results in the last year of the strategy period. The strategic objectives were implemented through a synergetic program combining economic policy research with postgraduate training, supported by an interactive communications and policy outreach program, with key outcomes being achieved. First, the pool of locally based economists with improved skills and competencies to conduct economic policy research and teaching at universities has been enhanced, with over 4,000 Masters and 400 PhD alumni to date. Similarly, capacity of more than 4,000 early career researchers from more than 40 African countries has been built through thematic and collaborative research programs. Second, the proportion of women participating in AERC thematic research and training activities has improved, although enrollment of women into PhD remains significantly low. This, to some extent, explains why there is a small pool of highly qualified women researchers and teaching faculties in sub-Saharan Africa. The proportion of women participating in AERC thematic research activities was 35% as at June 2019, with most of them participating through the technical workshop. The proportion of women awarded Masters and PhD scholarships increased to 48% and 36%, respectively, over the period 2015/2016 to 2018/2019, compared to 35% and 27% recorded in the preceding five years. Third, participation of individuals and institutions from fragile and post-conflict states in AERC research and training activities has been enhanced following the introduction of an innovative bridge program during the strategic plan period with participants from Somalia, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, among other countries. So far, a total of 11 out of 72 Masters and 8 out of 29 PhD bridge program alumni have obtained admission and awarded Collaborative Master's Program, Collaborative Master in Agriculture and Applied Economics and Collaborative PhD Program scholarships. Also, worthy noting is the increase to 38% the proportion of researchers from fragile and post conflict countries taking part in thematic research. Fourth, the profile of AERC in policy making in sub-Saharan Africa has been enhanced following the successful completion and dissemination of several broad impactful collaborative research projects that incorporate cross-cutting issues of gender, institutions and governance. They include: Counting Women's Work: An Application of Economy in the Market and at Home; Senior Scholars Project on Youth Unemployment in Africa; Health care Financing in sub-Saharan Africa; Growth in Fragile and Post-Conflict States in Africa; Rethinking Regional Integration for Sustainable and Inclusive Development in Africa; Financial Sector Development and Financial Inclusion in Africa; Capacity Development for Service Delivery Indicators in Africa (SDI); and Somalia Needs Assessment and Institutional Mapping Project. In addition, several institutional linkages have been established within and outside Africa to jointly conduct research and training activities. Fifth, progress has to some extent been made on the engagement of private sector in research and training activities to deepen and broaden AERC's capacity building. One approach has been to develop and implement policy research of relevance to the private sector as shown by most of the work done in the theme of financial inclusion and related topics, and agriculture and climate change discussed during the biannual workshops. Sixth, raising policy makers awareness has continued, with five senior policy seminars held over the period, featuring the following themes; Agriculture in Africa's Transformation: The Role of Smallholder Farmers (2015); Financial Inclusion in Africa (2016); Industrialization in Africa (2017); Rethinking Regional Integration in Africa (2018); and Fragility of Growth in African Economies (2019). Seventh, on the digital front, the period saw the introduction of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which has gone a long way in improving efficiency through the automation of AERC business processes. Further, the AERC English website, whose domain currently sits on Access Kenya, was launched after an extensive three-month design and structure rebuild, including content update. The AERC publications pipeline continues to advance in terms of production of research papers, policy briefs, working papers, and collaboration research outputs. During the fiscal year 2020/2021 45 research papers and 50 policy briefs were produced from thematic research and collaborative projects and posted on the AERC website for wider circulation. Media outreached has significantly improved. In addition, AERC was, in 2018, ranked as best among sub-Saharan African institutes in the categories of 'Independent Think-Tanks' and 20 out of 145 worldwide. The ranking arises from worldwide consultation of policy-makers, academics and civil society. Moreover, the AERC value proposition has been reaffirmed by beneficiaries, particularly by the newly established AERC African Central Banks Governors Forum comprising presently 12 countries, who adopted a historic resolution to become members of the Consortium with a group representative on the AERC Board. In addition, the Government of Kenya National Treasury, the African Development Bank, and the Trade and Development Bank (TDB) have greatly enhanced African stakeholder-ship of AERC and put the organization in a more sustainable path. Similarly, IDRC has been re-engaged and has provided support for the bridge program for post-conflict and fragile state. AERC has also continued deepening and sustaining strong relationships with the existing funding partners. AERC has created an entry point to the pressing issues facing the region, placing AERC at the forefront of policy discussion and giving the Consortium the opportunity to evolve and diversify its portfolio of services to economic capacity building in order to meet the region's needs and to provide policy solutions to these challenges. The continent has changed rapidly and the economic demands facing such a dynamic region require and demand that AERC modifies its approach to meet the new opportunities and challenges that are emerging as Africa turns the corner into a new decade. A tactical road map has been provided through the 20152020 Strategic Plan Evaluation Report, giving guidance to AERC regarding regarding quality, sustainability, and influence, in the next strategic planning cycle. The focus and driving force of AERC remains academic capacity building, institutional strengthening through economic research and graduate training in Africa and an interactive policy outreach. The collaboration between AERC and Sida has been going on for a long time and the organizations have learned many lessons. Some lessons that Sida has learned in connection with the support during the period 2015-2021 are the following: - Sida has established and developed a genuine partnership with AERC over the years, which has created trust and respect from both organizations. At the same time, annual audits, mid-term evaluations, annual meetings and continuous dialogue have contributed to the relationship being characterized by professionalism, critical self-reflection and joint learning. - AERC has been able to position the organization as an active and participating agent to influence public policy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Other research organiztions in Africa should be able to learn from AERC's experiences on this. - AERC constantly modifies its approach to meet new opportunities and challenges that are emerging in Africa. A forward-looking approach is now needed, with a new set of challenges and opportunities to be met. - AERC has developed a new approach to capacity building: it takes a broader perspective that constitutes a fundamental change to the way AERC has been operating, moving from an objectives-based to a theme-based approach and focusing on outcomes and impact measurement. AERC also presents new ways to engage across the region through incubator projects for funders to consider throughout the five-year planning period. - AERC is enhancing its relevance by building on the unique convening power of the organization and scaling-up its services to support policymakers in their efforts to build a stronger economic foundation and future, nationally and regionally. By becoming their partner and encouraging other interested institutions and organizations to join with it, AERC will most probably be able to expand economic capacity across the region and promote positive development outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa economies.

The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) 2015-2020 Strategic Objectives are as follows: 1. Enhance capacity building for economic policy research and graduate training in sub-Saharan Africa. 2. Build and strengthen national, regional and global linkages to generate high quality economic policy research and graduate training. 3. Engage private sector in mutually beneficial research and training activities to enhance innovation, and to deepen and broaden AERC capacity building and policy impact. 4. Enhance AERC visibility, outreach and policy engagement to maximize the uptake of AERC products in policy. 5. Maximize mutual benefits through diversified resource base and stakeholder-ship for sustainability.