AERC | Call for Proposals – Industrial Policy and Growth in Africa (IPGA) Research Project ( Grant up $10,000)

Mr HausaLoaded1 day ago

1 3 minutes read

AERC | Call for Proposals - Industrial Policy and Growth in Africa (IPGA) Research Project ( Grant up $10,000)

The Industrial Policy and Growth in Africa Project seeks to generate rigorous, policy-relevant evidence to address Africa’s limited structural transformation, low productivity, weak investment, and persistent constraints on industrial development. Focusing on firm dynamics, investment, regional integration, and value addition, the project will examine opportunities in manufacturing, agro-processing, and natural resources. It will evaluate the effectiveness and costs of industrial policy instruments, including tax incentives, special economic zones, trade policies, and investment promotion measures. Through research led by early-career economists, the project aims to inform evidence-based industrial strategies, strengthen research capacity, and produce high-quality academic publications that support sustainable economic growth across Africa.

Objectives

The Industrial Policy and Growth in Africa Project aims to generate rigorous, policy-relevant research on the micro and macro foundations of industrialisation in Africa, carried out by early-career African and Africa-focused economists. Specifically, the project seeks to:

provide rigorous empirical evidence on the drivers of firm productivity, investment and structural transformation;
evaluate the effectiveness and cost of specific industrial-policy instruments, including tax incentives, special economic zones, trade policy and sector-specific measures;
inform ministries of industry, trade and finance, investment-promotion agencies and regional institutions on how to design and implement growth-enhancing industrial strategies; and
produce high-quality academic outputs publishable in internationally refereed journals, while building the research capacity of early-career researchers.

Research themes and questions

We invite proposals for commissioned studies under the following seven themes:

Theme 1. Policy instruments, allocation and firm dynamics
Theme 2. Special economic zones, industrial parks and place-based policy
Theme 3. FDI, linkages and domestic capabilities
Theme 4. Trade, AfCFTA and regional value chains
Theme 5. Agriculture and agro-processing
Theme 6. Natural resources and critical minerals
Theme 7. Data and measurement

Eligibility criteria

To ensure high research quality and to promote emerging academic leadership, applicants must meet the following criteria.

Academic qualification: the lead applicant and all co-applicants must hold a PhD in Economics or a closely related field.
Early-career status: the PhD must have been awarded in 2016 or later.
Data in hand: applicants must already hold, or have confirmed access to, the data needed to answer the proposed question (see Section 4).
Teams and inclusion:
We strongly encourage applications from research teams rather than single authors. Teams combining researchers at African institutions with researchers at international institutions are particularly welcome.
In line with our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we strongly encourage applications from female economists and from Francophone and Lusophone economists.

Funding

Each commissioned study receives up to US$10,000 for researcher time, secondary data access, and software. Primary data collection and field travel are excluded; applicants must demonstrate existing data availability and suitability.

Proposal submission guidelines

Proposals must be submitted in English or French and must not exceed 2,000 words, excluding CVs, budget table and references. Proposals must follow the structure below.

Title, theme and abstract (max. 250 words): the theme and question number(s) addressed, the core research question, methodology and expected contribution.
Introduction and motivation (max. 400 words): the study’s position in the existing literature and its policy relevance for Africa.
Data and methodology (max. 600 words): data sources and evidence of access, a brief descriptive-statistics summary, the empirical strategy and the identification strategy, including how the main feasibility risks will be addressed.
Expected outputs and publication strategy (max. 250 words): target journals (CABS-AJG 2 or above) and a timeline for submission.
Team composition and roles (max. 300 words): team members’ qualifications and roles, and how the team meets the diversity goals.
Timeline and budget (max. 200 words plus a table): an 18-month work plan and a budget breakdown totalling no more than USD 10,000.
Appendices: short CVs of all team members, stating the year of PhD completion, and proof of the PhD award date.

Call-for-Proposals-AERC-Industrial-Policy-and-Growth-in-Africa-Project-.pdf

Application Timelines

Call Launch – 23 October 2026
Proposal submission deadline – 21 November 2026, midnight East Africa Time (EAT)
Notification of selection – December 2026.