Workshop for Young Economists on Macroeconomics and Finance in Africa

The meeting opened with a keynote address by Leonard Rugwabiza, Senior Economic Advisor to the Minister at Rwanda Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, who emphasised the essential role of researchers in supporting policy-makers to promote structural transformation on the continent. In particular, he stressed the need for researchers to adapt their discourse to make it audible and useful to policy-makers.

The following sessions presented research on three main themes:

• Climate change and environmental policies, with a focus on the effects of environmental policies on exports of  green goods and commercial banking activity.

Papers presented:

Socrates Kraido Majune, University of Nairobi: ‘Environmental Policies, Non-Tariff Measures, and Export Survival of Green Goods’
Yves Kacou, University of Ulsan: ‘How do climate change adaptation efforts shape banks' lending behaviour in WAEMU countries?’

• Digitalisation of the continent, examining its impact on employment, monetary policy and macroeconomic performance in Africa.

Papers presented:

Placide Aime Kwizera, National Bank of Rwanda: "Institutional quality and artificial intelligence readiness: A twin catalyst for growth in Sub-Saharan Africa"
Yasser Boina, Cheikh Anta Diop University: "Digitalisation and the labour market in Senegal: What impact does the Plan Sénégal Emergent have?"
Mphatso Elias Ackim, University of Pretoria: "The Macroeconomic Relevance of Mobile Money"

• Macroeconomic and financial stability within the WAEMU and Rwanda.

Papers presented:

Patrick Mugenzi, National Bank of Rwanda, African Centre of Excellence in Data Science (ACE-DS), College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda: "Assessing the Systemic Risk in the Rwandan Banking Sector using Clustering Approach"
Ruben Djogbenou, African Futures Institute and Office of the Prime Minister of Senegal: "Inflation-at-Risk in the WAEMU through the lens of commodity price movements"

The second day began with a keynote  address by Mr Nicola Limodio, Associate Professor at Bocconi University, who showed how the combination of dematerialised property rights reform and mobile internet penetration had a transformative effect on the mortgage market in Rwanda.

The presentations that followed focused on the effects of macroeconomic policies—monetary, fiscal, macroprudential, and capital controls—on African economies.

• Macroeconomic policies

Papers presented:

Marrium Mustapher, Reserve Bank of Malawi: "Monetary policy shocks and inflation: The impact of backed vs. unbacked public debt in a policy mix regime"
Noureddine Echcharfi, EIEA lab at UM6P: "Capital Controls on Outflows and the Composition of External Liabilities in SSA"
Bertrand Thom, University of Yaoundé 2: ‘Do macroprudential policies improve depositor confidence in the banking system in developing countries?’

• Access to credit

 Papers presented:

Djeneba Dramé, University of Paris Nanterre (EconomiX): "Monetary Policy and Bank Risk-Taking in Africa"
Christian Nyalihama, Central Bank of Rwanda (BNR): "Private sector debt service, loan maturity, and economic growth in developing countries"