Growing with Debt in African Economies: Options, Challenges and Pitfalls

50th Biannual plenary

and research workshop

Cape Town, South Africa

2-6 June 2019

African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) is pleased to announce the next Biannual Plenary and Research Workshop to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, 2-6 June 2019.

The Biannual is unique – combining learning-by-doing research, peer review, mentoring and networking to build and strengthen the capacity of early career African researchers. The workshop brings together many economists from around the African continent and globally fulfilling one of our major mandates – to strengthen local capacity for conducting independent, rigorous inquiry into problems facing the management of economies in sub-Saharan Africa.

AERC organizes two biannual research workshops annually in June and December. For full details, please visit our event portal: www.aercafricaevents.org

The 50th Plenary Session

The first day of the workshop, Sunday 2 June 2019, will feature the 50th Plenary Session on Growing with Debt in African Economic Economies: Options, Challenge and Pitfalls.

Over 200 researchers, academics, policy makers, non-state actors and economists will discuss the issue of growing with debt in African economies and the ramifications for development regionally and globally.

Three days of five concurrent sessions will run from 3-5 June 2019, with 6 June 2019 dedicated to technical sessions, where individual researchers interact with resource persons to discuss their presentation and to receive feedback on improving the quality of their research.

The Concurrent Sessions

The five concurrent sessions of the Biannual start on Monday, 3 June 2019 and will feature nearly 90 presentations of research proposals, work in progress documents, final reports and PhD thesis post-field reports.

The reports will cover a wide range of topics that fit into the five focal areas of AERC’s thematic research programme:

  • Group A: Poverty, Labour Markets and Income Distribution
  • Group B: Macroeconomic Policy and Growth
  • Group C: Finance and Resource Mobilization
  • Group D: Production, Trade and Economic Integration
  • Group E: Agriculture, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management

The Biannual attracts over 200 researchers, academics, policy makers and other economists who participate in our Research and Training Programmes. It provides a forum for participants to meet within a worldwide network of professionals to address issues relevant for Africa’s economic development. They also provide an opportunity for monitoring the progress and quality of the various research projects sponsored by AERC.

Exchange Rate, Petroleum Price and Price Determination in Sierra Leone

Exchange Rate,

Petroleum Price and Price
Determination in
Sierra Leone

By B.I.B. Kargbo
Department of Research, Planning and Actuarial National Social Security and Insurance Trust
Sierra Leone

The Sierra Leone economy is a net importer with a chronic negative balance of trade. Imports as a percentage of GDP averaged 40.8% between 2001 and 2010. Imports of
food, mineral fuels and lubricants accounted for 50.8% of the total value of imports within the same period. Also, the value of the leone depreciated from Le 920.75 in 1996 to Le 4,000 in 2010 while inflation averaged 12.6% for the same period. As a result of the interplay of these forces, fuel prices are most times adjusted upwards to compensate for the depreciation of the leone against the dollar or to match up with increases in the world price of crude oil. This study determines the effects of monetary environment as well as exchange rate movement and petroleum prices on domestic prices in Sierra Leone by estimating a hybrid model of inflation in which inflation responds to its own lags, lags of other variables, and a set of error-correction terms that represent short run disequilibria from the money market, external sector and output that feed into the inflation process. The empirical results from the parsimonious model show that petroleum product prices and exchange rate, as well as monetary factors determine inflation in Sierra Leone. What is also significant from the findings is that the contribution of petroleum prices to domestic price formation is unfounded in the long run, meaning that it is only a short-run phenomenon. The results also support the view that a fair portion of fluctuations in domestic prices is driven by its own shocks.

Key words: Sierra Leone, Inflation, Pump Price, Exchange Rate.

Research Paper 353

African Economic Research Consortium
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