Development and Economic Growth

In Honolulu, Hawaii, land use laws have been leveraged as a tool to manage the impact of tourism on the city. These laws should be changed to offer greater protection to local residents.

On November 13, 2023, HKS Student Policy Review Senior Editor Jane Petersen spoke with former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. The conversation covered a range of topics including what other countries can learn from Colombia’s peace agreement, poverty alleviation efforts, and the fight against climate change.

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law over a year ago – a bipartisan accomplishment that felt akin to winning the lottery. With the big checks inbound, are state and local governments actually prepared to spend them? Can government administrators avoid fraud, waste, and abuse? The trillions of dollars […]

Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, addressed the African Development Conference organized by Harvard Kennedy School’s Africa Caucus and Harvard Law Students Association in Cambridge,Massachusetts, emphasizing the importance of Africa charting its own course towards a more prosperous and inclusive future. The conference’s theme, “Reimagining Africa’s growth on our terms,” was described as timely and […]

Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Tadeous Chifamba, recently spoke with the Africa Policy Journal in an exclusive interview, discussing various issues related to Africa’s relationships with superpowers. Ambassador Chifamba emphasized the importance of Africa being seen as an equal partner, rather than prey, and having a seat at the table. The interview was […]

The Harvard Chan School of Public Health recently hosted the first-ever Africa Health Conference from February 18th to 19th, 2023, bringing together students, faculty, activists, global health leaders, and a community of scholars. Organized by the Harvard Chan Africa Health Students Forum, the conference aimed to celebrate successes in healthcare across the continent while also […]

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), recently spoke in an exclusive interview with Africa Policy Journal, calling on African nations to develop regulations to promote digital trade and e-commerce on the continent. She praised the efforts of young people who are engaging in digital trade and stressed the importance of […]

For African countries to address their political, economic and development challenges, the new generation of leaders from the continent must speak truth to power. This was the opinion of Sir Sam Jonah, the CEO of Jonah Capital during an interview with Africa Policy Journal’s Enitan Okedji, Lead Interview Editor (Policy Engagement).  Sam Jonah was in […]

Despite the scintillating promises it holds, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is only a necessary, not a sufficient condition for a structural transformation and global convergence of Africa. The substantial efforts to pass the sufficient test rest upon transcending the colonial model of resource extraction economy.  In a blow to the gravity trade […]

One of the debates among economic development experts is whether the African continent can skip manufacturing and move into the service industry to achieve economic development. Africa is blessed with abundant land and other natural resources, yet the continent is still grappling with myriad of challenges such as of food security and lack of sufficient […]

The implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has the potential to increase Africa’s exports by more than US$ 560 billion. This was disclosed by Dr. Hippolyte Fofack, Chief Economist of Afreximbank, while referring to a World Bank data during a lecture at the Harvard Kennedy School. Dr. Fofack stated this during the Africa […]

Former South Korean minister of trade, Dr. Taeho Bark has encouraged African countries to learn from South Korea by focusing on exports.  Dr. Bark, a senior visiting scholar, Korea project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfar Center stated this during a lecture on South Korea’s new external economic strategies at the Kennedy School.  “At beginning of […]