In the city that hosts Africa’s largest development finance institution, a new platform with ambitions to shape the continent’s economic future was born last week. Launched in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the headquarters of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Chief Economists Network seeks to become the continent’s collective economic brain trust, bringing together those who influence national economic policy to confront Africa’s most pressing challenges with home-grown solutions. Spearheaded by the AfDB, the network will convene chief economic advisers to African governments, central bank governors, senior finance ministry officials, think tank leaders and selected leading economists from across the continent. By placing the continent’s top economic minds around one table, the initiative aims to forge a common understanding of Africa’s economic priorities and promote coordinated policy responses to recurring crises. The network was unveiled during the African Economic Conference held last week in Abidjan. It will be chaired by Kevin Chika Urama(Prof.), the AfDB’s Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, who is expected to steer the forum as a platform for policy dialogue, knowledge sharing and evidence-based economic decision-making across Africa.

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