African Programme on Rethinking Development Economics
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About APORDE
The African Programme on Rethinking Development Economics (APORDE) was started in 2007 and is a high-level training programme in development …
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Lecturers
APORDE features leading international and African economist to lead discussions and share their views on economic development and industrialisation. The …
APORDE 2026 call for papers & presentations
APORDE ALUMNI CONFERENCE 2027: CALL FOR PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS
Supported by
Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS)
Please Note: Places for this Programme are limited. The screening and shortlisting of preferred candidates is at the sole discretion of TIPS and remains strictly confidential. TIPS will not provide feedback or discuss selection decisions with any applicants.
APORDE will be holding its fourth Alumni conference on Tuesday 16 March and Wednesday 17 March 2027. This will be preceded by an APORDE masterclass on Monday 15 March 2027. The conference and masterclass will be hybrid and take place in Nairobi, Kenya and on Zoom. Flights and accommodation will be available for up to 15 participants.
The theme of the hybrid conference is Industrial Development in Africa. The conference is for the alumni from the APORDE and IPPM programmes to talk about either their work as a practitioner in implementing industrial development programmes or on their research. The focus is not only academic papers, and we are inviting alumni to present on the work they are doing, be it in government, civil society or academia, to support industrial development..
In alignment with the approach of APORDE, the aim of the conference is to share insights or research by APORDE and IPPM alumni in implementing industrial policy or industrial development programmes. The conference will be preceded by a masterclass where APORDE lecturers will engage with alumni.
The conference is organised by TIPS and co-hosted with the Department of Economics and Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, the South African Research Chair in Industrial Development at the University of Johannesburg, and South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic).
Financial support for the conference has been provided by the Open Society Foundation.
Invitation Industrialisation in Africa and the AfCFTA
As the AfCFTA advances its work on building an industrial policy and development protocol it needs to address a number of conceptual and policy questions on industrialization and development that are relevant to the African context. These include the role of manufacturing in Africa, opportunities presented by the move to a low carbon economy, and how we use our critical minerals strategically. These issues and others will be discussed by a high level panel.
Alice Amsden Memorial Lecture
Alice Amsden, was a leading thinker on Industrial Policy and an expert in economic development. She served as the Barton L. Weller Professor of Political Economy in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Amsden wrote extensively about the process of industrialization in emerging economies, particularly in Asia. Her work has shaped thinking in how developing countries approach industrialisation and she was influential in understanding the importance of the state as a creator of economic growth. Her work challenged the idea that globalization had produced generally uniform conditions in which emerging economies could find a one-size-fits-all path to prosperity.
Keynote Speaker:
Professor Fiona Tregenna is Director of the United Nations University–Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT) in the Netherlands. An internationally recognised economist, her work focuses on industrial development, structural transformation, industrial policy and inclusive growth. She has advised governments and international organisations, including UNIDO, UNCTAD and the ILO, and serves on South Africa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council.