Ideas in Development
S4 Ep7: Does Africa need development economics?
46 min•6 oktober 2026
Om avsnittet
If every development economist stopped their research tomorrow, would Africa's growth rate in 2040 look any different?
Ken Opalo, associate professor at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service and author of the Substack An Africanist Perspective, joins Oliver Hanney to argue that the constraint on African growth is not knowing what to do but knowing how to get it done. He also explains why Kenya's evidence boom has coincided with declining policymaking, and what happens when policymakers outsource their ambitions.
In this wide-ranging conversation we cover:
- Why the SDGs are the wrong goal for an ambitious minister.
- How narrow evidence reshaped education policy in Tanzania and Kenya.
- The craft of policymaking.
- When a policymaker should actually listen to a development economist.
- How to learn the right lessons from growth success stories.
- What the third wave of philanthropy should fund.
Ideas in Development is a VoxDev podcast on economic policy and research. Find us wherever you get your podcasts, and read the full write-up on our Substack: https://ideasindevelopment.substack.com/
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