Rome conference seeks research on African economic integration
Submissions are open for the third African Economic Development Conference in Rome, co-hosted by Banca d'Italia, the World Bank, and the Kiel Institute. Researchers focusing on African regional integration must submit papers by September 15, 2026.
From AfCFTA to value chains
The third African Economic Development Conference (AEDC) convenes in Rome under the joint organization of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the World Bank Group Institute for Economic Development, the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Banca d'Italia, and the African School of Economics.
The event focuses on regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), spanning cross-border infrastructure, investment flows, green transition, and labor mobility.
Keynote addresses will be delivered by Arkebe Oqubay, former Senior Minister and Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and Douglas Gollin, Professor of Economics at Tufts University and STEG Research Director at CEPR.
Peer review and poster sessions
Full research papers must be submitted online via the CEPR portal by September 15, 2026, at 20:00 CEST, with selection notifications scheduled for October 30, 2026.
Submissions may address formal and informal trade, renewable energy, industrial policy, or digital payments.
A subset of accepted papers will be assigned to poster presentations alongside oral sessions.
Each poster presenter receives structured feedback from an assigned discussant and must also be available to act as a discussant.
Policy dialogue needs empirical teeth
African trade research often suffers from fragmented data and weak links to policymaking.
Bringing central banks and multilateral lenders together provides a necessary analytical forum.
The initiative will only succeed if the empirical findings translate into actionable border reforms.