The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) seeks to strengthen capacity for economic policy research in sub-Saharan Africa. AERC’s interventions are targeted at enhancing the capacity of local researchers to conduct policy-relevant economic analyses, leading to the entrenchment of such capacity and its application to policy. 

AERC’s mission rests on two basic premises: 

1. Development is more likely to occur where there is sustained, sound management of the economy.
2. Such management is more likely to exist in an environment of active, well informed groups of economists conducting policy-relevant research. 
   

Programs 

Established in 1988 as an IDRC project, AERC is now an independent consortium that brings together 15 funders who support its research, dissemination, and training programs. Networking is the key strategic instrument for implementing AERC’s activities. 

The Research Program has adopted a flexible approach to

•  improve the technical skills of local researchers;
•  allow for regional dissemination of analyses;
•  strengthen national institutions concerned with economic policy research; and
•  facilitate closer links between researchers and policymakers. 
  

This approach alleviates professional isolation, encourages the exchange of experiences, and creates a dynamic context for peer review.  

The Training Program supports graduate studies in economics and seeks to improve the capacities of departments of economics in local public universities. The Collaborative MA Program consists of a network of 20 universities in 15 English-speaking countries and serves as the model for similar initiatives in certain francophone countries and in Nigeria.

AERC is based in Nairobi, Kenya. 

Future Directions 

Although AERC remains committed to economic research in the areas of balance of payments and macroeconomic issues more generally, it is increasingly supporting work on poverty policy issues that cover employment, labour markets, government expenditures, and human capital. Support is also continuing for several collaborative research projects.