Event Details
- Collaboration through Research: Pathways to Evidence-based Policy in Rwanda
- Co-organizers: Yale Economic Growth Center (EGC), Yale Inclusion Economics (YIE) and the International Growth Centre (IGC)
- Link to the agenda
Event Description
This event consisted of discussions between researchers and key counterparts as well as a panel, followed by a reception. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze, who was pleased to welcome to Kigali a special guest, the President of Yale University, Dr. Peter Salovey.
The Yale Economic Growth Center (EGC) and Yale Inclusion Economics (YIE) are partnering with the International Growth Centre (IGC) to present recent research projects in Rwanda. YIE is also a part of Yale's Whitney and Betty Macmillan Center for International and Area Studies. A key component of EGC, YIE and IGC’s work together is to help enable the insights of economics research to support policy decision-making in close collaboration with government and other counterparts.
The meeting featured two presentations:
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Lauren Falcao Bergquist, an Assistant Professor of Economics and Global Affairs at Yale University, presented a study of the Export Growth Fund, a key instrument of Rwanda’s industrial policy. Her work focuses on agricultural markets and firms in sub-Saharan Africa. In Rwanda, she is working on projects related to industrial development, collaborating with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Development Bank of Rwanda, and the Rwanda Development Board. She also serves as the Lead Academic for the International Growth Centre in Rwanda, connecting academic researchers with policymakers to support evidence-based policymaking.
- Kevin Donovan, an Associate Professor of Economics in the Yale School of Management and Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, discussed his study of the importance of footbridges in connecting people to markets. His research focuses on the role of labor market frictions and rural infrastructure in generating economic growth. In Rwanda, he is evaluating the impact of footbridges constructed by Bridges to Prosperity and in partnership with the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Transport Development Agency (RTDA), and Rwanda Polytechnic. He also co-leads the Agriculture program for the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) “Structural Transformation and Economic Growth” Consortium, which aims to develop and implement strategies for structural change and productivity growth in developing countries.