African Economic Conference launches continental network of chief economists

African policymakers, development institutions and leading economists on Sunday launched the African Chief Economists Network (ACE-Network), a continent-wide platform designed to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and provide coordinated African solutions to increasingly complex global economic challenges, according to a press release by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The launch is one of the principal outcomes of the 2026 African Economic Conference (AEC). It comes as African countries face mounting geopolitical tensions, global trade fragmentation, climate shocks, rising debt pressures, and a rapidly evolving international financial and development architecture. The three-day conference was hosted by the African Development Bank Group in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It brought together ministers, central bank officials, chief economists, academics, development practitioners, private-sector leaders and researchers from Africa and beyond.

The event was held under the theme “Strengthening Africa’s Geopolitical Agency and Trade Resilience in a Multipolar World.” It concluded with more than 4,000 participants connected virtually over the three days. The turnout reflects growing interest in Africa’s search for stronger, home-grown policy responses to a rapidly changing global economy. Speaking on behalf of African Development Bank Group President Dr Sidi Ould Tah, Senior Vice-President Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade described the launch of the ACE-Network as a landmark achievement. She said it would strengthen Africa’s capacity to develop practical, evidence-based policy solutions.

The ACE-Network will operate as an informal, invitation-only community of chief economists and senior policy advisers. Members will exchange evidence, coordinate research, identify emerging risks, and jointly develop policy recommendations for African governments. Members will include chief economists from African development finance institutions and multilateral organisations, chief economic advisers to African presidents and prime ministers, deputy governors of central banks responsible for economic policy, heads of leading think tanks, deans of economics faculties, and senior private-sector economists. Rather than establishing another formal institution, the network will meet annually alongside the African Economic Conference. It will also hold quarterly virtual sessions and rapid-response meetings during major global or regional economic shocks.

Presenting the network’s strategic vision, African Development Bank Group Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, Prof Kevin Urama, said Africa must strengthen its knowledge systems to shape the emerging global financial and economic order. He argued that Africa has only a limited window to influence reforms to the international financial architecture. Urama also called for greater investment in “soft infrastructure”—research, data systems and knowledge institutions. UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa Chief Economist Dr Raymond Gilpin described the network as “a unified powerhouse of African intellectuals” capable of narrowing the gap between economic research and public policy.

“The Africa Chief Economists Network will be an engine room that designs creative solutions necessary for Africa to attain the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063,” Gilpin said.

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist Dr Hanan Morsy said increasingly interconnected crises demanded stronger collective economic intelligence across Africa. “No country, regardless of its size or resources, can effectively navigate this environment alone,” she said. Representing the OECD, Ida McDonnell, head of the Development Research Unit, noted that current global challenges required integrated approaches to trade, debt, climate finance, industrial policy and investment. Participants agreed that Africa possesses major comparative advantages—including the world’s youngest population, abundant renewable energy resources, critical minerals, expanding digital markets and the world’s largest free trade area under the AfCFTA. They stressed that stronger institutions, better policy coordination and higher-quality economic analysis will be essential to convert those assets into sustained growth.