NYU Africa House Spotlight on Côte d’Ivoire
Panel discussion on the socio-economic environment of Côte d'Ivoire
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2021
Time: 12pm-1:15pm Eastern Time
Overview:
Located in West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire is the world’s largest producer of cocoa beans and also a significant exporter of palm oil, cashews, and coffee. Since 2011, the country has experienced a great increase in economic growth and foreign investments. It remains the economic hub of West Africa and one of the world’s fastest growing economies with an average growth of 8%.
About the Speakers:
Yaw Nyarko; Professor of Economics, New York University (NYU); Director, NYU Africa House/CTED; Co-Director, NYU Development Research Institute; Director, NYU Abu Dhabi Development Laboratory (DevLab)
Bernadette Dia Kamgnia, Ph.D., is an international consultant in development and a researcher affiliated with the Economic Policy Analysis Unit of the CIRES (CAPEC). From November 2014-January 2017, she served as the Acting Director of the African Development Institute of the African Development Bank (ADB), having joined the bank in 2011 as the Manager of the Policy Management Division of the institute. She is the Chair of the thematic group “Agriculture, Climate Change, and Natural Resources,” and a member of the Program Committee of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), having served as a member of its Board of Directors at large. She is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Center of Excellence of ESEA in Abidjan.
Ms. Kamgnia is Agrégé in Economics, in the field of Statistics and Econometrics, holding a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. She had a long academic career at the University of Yaounde II in the faculty of Economics and Management where she was the Vice Dean in charge of programming and monitoring academic affairs, Vice Dean in charge of student records and affairs, Vice Dean in charge of research, and was Head of the Department of Public Economics.
Hugues Kouadio, Ph.D., is a statistician and economist, Director of the Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics, ENSEA (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Statistique et d’Economie Appliquée), Coordinator of the African Centre of Excellence in Statistical Training, President of the African Group of Statistical Training (AGROST), and current President of the Network of Africain School of Statistics (Réseau des Écoles Africaines de Statistique, RESA). From 2000-2015, he was Director of Continuing Education at ENSEA. In 2003-2015, he was the Director of the ISE program (M.Sc.) at ENSEA. He is member of the Scientific Councils of the African Statistics newsletter and member of the guest editorial board of the Statistical Journal of the International Association of Official Statistics (IAOS). He is an expert in economic policy evaluation and specializes in the fields of local economy, agricultural economy, informal economy, and labor markets. He has coordinated various studies and research in the areas of inequality, sustainability in agricultural economy, transport, employment, women’s empowerment, energy, etc.
Dr. Kouadio holds a Ph.D. in Economics and a Diploma of Advanced Study in Macroeconomics, Modeling, and Economic Environment from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, an Engineering Degree in Statistics and Economics (ISE) from ENSEA, as well a Diploma in Public Advanced Management Program (Public-AMP) from MDE Business School.
Issouf Soumaré, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Finance and the Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering of Université Laval (LABIFUL) in Canada. He is also Co-President of the Pan-African Institute for Economic and Financial Governance (IPAGEF). From 2012-2020, he was the Director of International Relations of the Faculty of Business Administration at Université Laval in Canada. In 2011-2012, he was the Director of the Ph.D. and M.Sc. research programs of the same Business School. He also worked for the African Development Bank (ADB) at the former Risk Management Unit from 1996-1998. He is President of the Scientific Council of ENSEA (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire) and a resource person for the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), member of the Scientific Council of the Moroccan Financial Market Authority (AMMC), member of the Program Steering Committee of FSD WAEMU and member of the Scientific Committee of the “Revue Économique et Monétaire” of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). He is also part of the consortium of researchers on the “FCDO-ESRC Growth Research Program Call 3: ESRC Ref. ES/N013344/2; Research Project: Delivering Inclusive Financial Development & Growth in Africa (2016-2021).”
Professor Soumaré holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Finance from the University of British Columbia (UBC, Canada), M.Sc. in Financial Engineering from Université Laval (Canada), M.Sc. in Statistics and Quantitative Economics (Ingénieur Statisticien Économiste) from ENSEA, and M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire). Professor Soumaré is also a certified Professional Risk Manager (PRM) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM). He is ASC (Chartered Director) from the Collège des Administrateurs de Sociétés Directors’ College of Université Laval.