Educating and Training Ethiopia’s Next Generation of Economists

At Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), supporting Ethiopia in improving the political and social framework conditions for a sustainable economic, energy and climate policy in the country is a stated objective that receives special attention both as a crosscutting issue and as an area of focus in its own right. To achieve this goal, Ethiopia’s own practitioners, experts, decision makers, and researchers need to be strong. In the current Ethiopian government policy direction towards more privatization in selected sectors, achieving this objective requires a commensurate focus on privatization. With this in mind, the AU/Ethiopia KAS Office seeks to develop a comprehensive understanding of the quality and depth of in-country training available for persons that will staff institutions with key roles in privatization processes. How good is the quality of education and training of Ethiopia’s economists? How strong are Ethiopian researchers in comparison with international competitors? What are challenges and open gaps in view of Ethiopia’s road to more privatization and joining the African Continental Freed Trade Area (AfCFTA)?

To this end, KAS intends to hold an informal gathering among stakeholders in the field to brainstorm and exchange ideas on possible gaps in academic education and practical training in the disciplines of business and economics and to propose actionable ideas on how to address them. The gathering seeks to bring together practitioners, experts, and representatives of the Ethiopian government. It is hoped that this gathering will lead to candid revelations and a first set of few recommendations to be developed further in cooperation with Ethiopian partners regarding the challenges in the availability of expertise on privatization in Ethiopia and the capacity building measures that could address them.