Development and Debt in Sub-Saharan Africa

A plenary from The New Building Blocks of Development, Duke University's multidisciplinary conference on international development.

During the last two decades, Sub-Saharan Africa has been transformed. A subcontinent of mostly low income countries not so long ago, the region’s economy is now dominated by 20 middle-income countries. A region that depended mainly on aid from and trade with high-income Europe and North America now has two middle-income economies—China and India—as its largest trade partners. Governments in the region that had their slates wiped clean by large-scale debt relief are now racking up debt again, this time from private lenders at home and abroad. Meanwhile, softer commodity markets have weakened the growth prospects of the continent’s largest economies. How will Africa fare over the coming decade? To answer this question, this session brings together current research on the African economy at Duke, the African Development Bank, and the World Bank, with commentary by senior development experts.

Moderator: Craig Burnside, Chair, Department of Economics, and Mary Grace Wilson Professor, Duke University

• Speakers: Ivailo Izvorski. Principal author of the 2018 World Bank report on Growth in Resource Rich Africa
• Speaker: Brian Pinto, Former Senior Adviser, World Bank. Reconciling Debt Sustainability and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Speakers: Indermit Gill and Kenan Karakulah, DCID. Findings of a Duke Policy Research Initiative on Middle-Income Africa
• Comment: Louise Fox, Chief Economist, USAID
• Comment: Albert Zeufack, Chief Economist, Africa Region, The World Bank

Session Sponsors: DCID, DUCIGS, and the Duke Africa Initiative
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Видео Development and Debt in Sub-Saharan Africa канала John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University