22 March 2016 11:30 - 13:00 GMT+00 Opening addressRt Hon Desmond Swayne TD MP - Minister of State for International Development Introduced by Marta Foresti - Director of Governance, Security and Livelihoods, ODI ChairEka Ikpe - Lecturer in Development Economics in Africa, Kings College SpeakersAnn Grant - Non-Executive Director, Tullow Oil and ODI board member David Booth - Senior Research Fellow, ODI Alex MacGillivray - Director of Development Impact, CDC Nicholas Waddell - Governance specialist, DfID Description Kick-starting more inclusive economic development processes in the world’s poorest countries is one of the most important remaining challenges in international development. However, because of the way politics works, it is also one of the most difficult. This is a reason for international development agencies to get involved. But it also means any support must be politically smart. To be politically smart, support to economic development needs to be targeted, flexible and adaptive. It should also be funded at arm’s length, so nationals of the country can lead the main reform effort. Recent initiatives supported by DFID in Nepal and Nigeria show how this approach can be operationalised and illustrate its substantial potential. This event examines lessons from two new ODI publications, a report edited by David Booth and co-authored with DFID economists and governance advisers, and an ODI Insights policy brief on economic development, and is followed by a networking lunch.
A high-level panel event bringing together leading economists and governance experts to discuss pathways to inclusive economic development in the world’s poorest countries.
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