GGDC co-leads major international project: tools for poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC) of the Faculty of Economics and Businesses will conduct research on structural transformation in sub-Saharan countries. This project will provide governments new tools to enhance growth and reduce poverty. From March 1, 2020, The GGDC will lead the work on generating novel measures of (sectoral) development, to put country experiences in international perspective.

From agricultural to industrialized

For low-income countries to develop, their economies need to transform from rural and agricultural to urban and industrialized. In many sub-Saharan countries urbanization to date has outpaced industrialization and structural change has largely been from agriculture to non-traded services. The GGDC will help answering questions and challenges that loom for these countries, in particular Ghana, Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

Built on databases

The project builds on the GGDC’s long and deep expertise in developing comprehensive databases for use in research on economic growth and development. The UK’s Department for International Development has awarded a large-scale multi-year research grant to a consortium of renowned researchers, with the GGDC as one of the core partners. Gaaitzen de Vries, Robert Inklaar and Marcel Timmer will be the GGDC members most closely involved in this project.

For more information: Robert Inklaar or Gaaitzen de Vries