News & Events

On October 9, 2025, Dr. Chukwuka Onyekwena, Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), participated in the 14th Annual Nordic-African Business Summit held at the Rococo Grand Hotel, Oslo, Norway. The event, organised by the Norwegian-African Business Association (NABA) in collaboration with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norfund, and the Africa Finance Corporation, provided a platform for Nordic and African business leaders to forge partnerships and promote sustainable trade opportunities. 
Dr. Onyekwena joined the roundtable session II  “From Source to Shelf: Realizing Africa–Nordic Agricultural Trade Potential,” which focused on mitigating trade-related risks, developing viable models for local processing and value addition, and building long-term, balanced trade partnerships.
During the session,  he  noted that Africa-Europe Trade remains foundational yet  uneven, and too often is transactional  rather than transformational, with infrastructure and logistics posing major bottlenecks. 
He urged African policymakers to prioritise value addition and regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and called on European partners to adapt trade instruments that reward local processing, sustainability, and fair participation. In response to  the panel’s policy question, he recommended shifting the EU’s trade focus from market access to value creation, proposing  the introduction of a “Value-Addition Incentive” within frameworks such as the GSP and EPAs, alongside broader cumulation across Africa to support regional supply chains.
 

On September 24–25, 2025, Dr. Adamu Ahmed Wudil, Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), represented the Centre at a two-day engagement with policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders on the Collation, Harmonization, and Integration of Research Findings and Innovations into the Curricula of Teacher Training Institutions. The event was hosted by the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with UNESCO-IICBA and the KIX Africa 19 Hub.

During the session, Dr. Wudil presented findings from CSEA’s regional study titled “Addressing Out-of-School Children through Accelerated Education Programs (AEPs) in Fragile, Conflict, and Violence-Affected Areas”, implemented in partnership with Associates for Change (Ghana) and CERFODES (Burkina Faso).

The study revealed that over 600,000 out-of-school children, including more than 300,000 girls in Northern Nigeria, have accessed education through Accelerated Education Programs (AEPs), Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL), and inclusive education models. These interventions have significantly improved literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional outcomes, while creating safer learning environments for children affected by conflict and displacement.

In his presentation, Dr. Wudil emphasized the need to integrate AEP methodologies, trauma-informed pedagogy, and inclusive learning approaches into Nigeria’s National Certificate in Education (NCE) curriculum. Doing so would better equip teachers to address the realities of fragile and diverse classroom contexts and advance the goals of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16–25).

The engagement provided a valuable platform for knowledge exchange among education leaders, policymakers, and researchers committed to transforming the future of teacher education in Nigeria and across Africa.

The Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) actively participated in the inaugural Nextier Development Festival (DevFest 2025), held in Abuja on September 24, 2025. The event convened leading policymakers, academics, and development practitioners to discuss practical, evidence-based approaches to tackling poverty in Nigeria.

CSEA’s Executive Director, Dr. Chukwuka Onyekwena, joined a high-level panel on Governance, Data, and Policy Implementation, where he spoke  on “Using MPI Data to Drive Policy Decisions.” He emphasised the need to  integrate multidimensional poverty data into federal and state development plans, budget frameworks, and intervention strategies to strengthen Nigeria’s poverty reduction efforts.

Dr. Oluwatosin Deborah Edafe, Research Fellow at CSEA, also played a key facilitation role during the session. She led  discussions on how governments can enhance data demand and utilization in policymaking. She also contributed to the workshop design and led interactive sessions aimed at translating research insights into actionable policy recommendations.

CSEA’s contributions at DevFest 2025 underscores  its ongoing commitment to promoting  evidence-based policymaking and supporting Nigeria’s efforts to build inclusive and effective poverty alleviation strategies.

The Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) organised  a one-day training on September 22, 2025 to prepare enumerators for its ongoing study on women’s participation in cross-border trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The research explores how access to AfCFTA-related information and digital platforms influences women’s willingness to engage in trade and sustain participation  in cross-border markets. Senior Research Fellow, Thelma Obiakor, presented an overview of the study’s objectives and methodology, whileResearch Associate, Anthony Bisong, provided insights on AfCFTA’s relevance to women traders and the role of digital tools in promoting inclusive  trade opportunities.

The training also featured a hands-on session led by Research Assistant, Salihu Abdulkhalid, who guided participants through the use of SurveyCTO for data collection, covering installation, navigation of survey modules, and effective interviewing techniques. The program concluded with fieldwork protocols on interview targets, compliance, and pilot testing, ensuring that enumerators are fully equipped for high-quality data collection.

Through these sessions, CSEA continues to build the capacity of its field teams to generate reliable data that will inform inclusive trade policies and promote women’s economic empowerment under the AfCFTA.

CSEA’s Director of Research, Dr Adedeji Adeniran participated in the Better Assistance Conference at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, held from 16-18 September 2025. He presented CSEA’s collaborative research with the Chronic Poverty Analysis Network on Social Assistance in Crises: Evidence from Borno State, Nigeria.

The study examined the emerging impact of polycrises, which are increasingly becoming the status quo rather than isolated shocks. The findings highlight far-reaching implications, from deepening chronic poverty to the urgent need to rethink targeting, program design, and institutional arrangements for social assistance.

Read more about our work on social assistance and poverty trajectories here:

https://www.ids.ac.uk/publications/poverty-dynamics-and-social-assistance-amidst-intersecting-crises-in-nigeria/

https://povertyevidence.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/BASIC_WP31-1.pdf