Events

This forum, which will be held from 7 to 9 July 2026 in Cotonou, aims to bring together researchers to present and discuss recent work on digital transformations in West Africa, from both academic and public policy perspectives.

The Global Research Network on Public Development Banks, in collaboration with Finance in Common and the French Development Agency, is organizing the 2026 Conference on Development Bank Research, focused on the theme “Public Banks in a Changing Global Financial Architecture.” The event will be held in Clermont-Ferrand in partnership with Ferdi and Cerdi.

From 21 to 23 April 2026, Ferdi will visit Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of its partnership with the National Pedagogical University (UPN). The mission will be led by Vianney Dequiedt and Coline Real, and organised in collaboration with the Global Development Network (GDN), represented by Idah Razafindrakoto.

Florian Léon (Ferdi) will participate in the panel discussion titled “What potential still remains in the transition businesses are pursuing?”

FERDI will take part in the OSH (One Sustainable Health) Forum, which will be held in Lyon on 7 and 8 April.

Laura Alfaro Maykall (Inter-American Development Bank), Rabah Arezki (French National Center for Scientific Research & FERDI), Osmel Manzano (Inter-American Development Bank), and Rick van der Ploeg (University of Oxford) in collaboration with CEBRA International Finance and Macroeconomics program are soliciting papers for a conference on “International and Financial Dimensions of Critical Minerals".

Thomas Mélonio, Executive Director and Chief Economist of the French Development Agency (AFD), visited Clermont-Ferrand on 1 April 2026 to present The African Economy 2026.

FERDI launched a series of three webinars on "Reconciling international development financing with global public goods financing."

Pascal Saint-Amans will discuss the issue: "What are the benefits of international tax reform for countries in the Global South?"

This webinar, organised by the DRM platform, focused on practical approaches and measures to combat illicit financial flows in order to make them more operational: How can concrete measures against IFFs be prioritized, sequenced, and managed while taking institutional constraints into account, and how can progress be assessed credibly?

On March 12, 2026, Joël Cariolle, Research Officer at FERDI, spoke about the contribution of mobile connectivity to the integration of agricultural markets in West Africa.

FERDI, represented by Audrey-Anne de Ubeda, Coordinator of FERDI’s research programmes, participated in an expert consultation organised as part of the French presidency of the G7.

Joël Cariolle, Research Officer at FERDI, took part in the launch conference of the World Intellectual Property Report 2026 in Geneva, organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization. This report analyses the global diffusion of new technologies. Joël Cariolle contributed to the report as the author of Chapter 5, which focuses on the diffusion of digital technologies.

Bruno Cabrillac, directeur général de la Ferdi, a présenté ce numéro de la Revue d'Économie Financière pour lequel il était coéditeur et a coécrit avec Matthieu Boussichas (Ferdi) l'article "L'Afrique victime ou bénéficiaire des tensions géopolitiques et géoéconomiques ?".

FERDI is collaborating on the Africa NextGen Economist Prize 2026, an initiative led by Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, in partnership with the African Development Bank.