Morten Jerven’s recent book “Africa, why economists get it wrong” questions what we really know about growth and economic transformation in Africa. He argues that mainstream economists have not used appropriate methodologies or sample periods, used data without critically assessing them, and focused on the wrong policies.

This event organised by ODI’s Supporting Economic Transformation (SET) programme will discuss where we are going wrong and what should we be doing differently if we want to properly understand the prospects of economic transformation in low income countries. What are appropriate research methodologies, what data can be used, and what do we know about policies and institutions for economic transformation?

After an introduction to the main points in Jerven’s book, a number of speakers will discuss the main questions: Blandina Kilama is an expert on economic transformation in Tanzania, Nick Crafts is a world leading authority on economic history, and Louise Fox is a leading voice on employment and labour markets in Africa.