“This eleventh seminar was notable for looking in detail at the impact of the financial crisis on growth and the real sectors, the financial systems of Africa, macroeconomic policies, and trade policy options. It also combined Africa-focussed with global perspectives, and saw presentations by private sector and government representatives as well as AERC researchers from Africa and the diaspora. As a result, participants described the seminar’s analysis and discussions as the most informative of many they attended on these issues in 2008-09, and urged AERC to continue its work in this area. A key contribution of this seminar was to show that Africa has the capacity to analyse these issues for itself, providing an excellent basis for support to African policymakers in G-20 and other negotiations over how to combat global crises, so Africa can reach the Millennium Development Goals.”
