Dr Alhassan Karakara, the West African Coordinator of the DePECOS Institutions and Development Research Centre’s (DIaDeRC) flagship training programme, the African Scholars Mentorship Network (ASMN), recently participated in the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Regional Policy Forum held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 12, 2025.
The AERC Regional Policy Forum with the theme “Value Chain Development, Trade, and Economic Transformation: Enhancing Africa’s Competitiveness and Participation in the Global Value Chain,” provided a vital platform for discussing strategies aimed at boosting Africa’s role in global trade and value chains. It also served as an avenue to promote the adoption of evidence-based policies derived from the “Value Chain Development, Trade, and Economic Transformation in Africa” project. It provided the platform to advance research and foster actionable policy changes that will strengthen Africa’s economic transformation and global competitiveness.
A key highlight of the forum was Dr Karakara’s presentation on “Global Value Chain Participation of Firms in West Africa: Empirical Insights from Ghana and Nigeria.” This paper, co-authored with Prof Evans Osabuohien, the Founding Chair of DIaDeRC, and Dr Oluwatosin Edafe, was funded by AERC and provided valuable empirical data on the participation of West African firms in Global Value Chains (GVCs). Dr Karakara’s research underscored critical factors that influence the engagement of these firms in global value chains.
In his presentation, Dr Karakara emphasised the importance of enhancing the production capacities of African firms. He argued that scaling production to larger volumes would enable these firms to achieve economies of scale, reduce production costs, and, ultimately, enhance their competitiveness in global markets. Strengthening these production capacities would place African firms in a better position to increase their participation in global value chains and improve their economic standing on the international stage.
The AERC Regional Policy Forum was a significant event that brought together researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities that Africa faces as it seeks to increase its participation in global trade and value chains. The forum’s discussions are expected to shape policy decisions that will foster sustainable economic growth and transformation across the continent.
To access Dr Karakara’s full presentation and the research papers presented, visit AERC’s REPEC’s page at https://ideas.repec.org/s/aer/wpaper2.html.
