Bringing together researchers from six Oxford departments to look at the current economic, social, and political governance challenges for sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in terms of decision-making and implementation.

This programme looks at the current realities of economic, social, and political governance challenges for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in terms of decision-making and implementation. It brings together researchers from six departments and several disciplines across the University of Oxford. The programme is led by Professor Stefan Dercon from the CSAE at the Department of Economics and the Blavatnik School of Government; and Professor Ricardo Soares de Oliveira at the Department of Politics and International Relations.

Research Questions

1. How will jobs be created at scale necessary to deal with the youth bulge, and are recent attempts at industrialisation the solution? Can industrialisation succeed in the economic and political contexts that exist in present-day African states?
2. How is the current downturn in commodity prices being handled, politically, socially and economically, and what does it mean for the long-term trajectory of affected states, given previous failed attempts to diversify resource-rich economies?
3. Focusing on infrastructure and social service delivery, is the quality of governance and the basis of political accountability changing? What lessons can be drawn from the experience across various countries?

This research programme is funded by the Oxford Martin School.