In May 2025, I had the honor of delivering the keynote speech at the RMB – Rand Merchant Bank’s 2025 Think Summit in Cape Town, South Africa. I spoke about Africa’s Growth and Position in the Global Economy. The summary of my talk is thus: to achieve prosperity, equity and stability, African countries must industrialize … More Keynote Speech: Africa’s Growth and Position in the Global Economy
In February, my TED Talk was published. Drawing on sci-fi, economic theory and history, I explain how deepening divisions among global powers may seriously hinder the world’s ability to fight climate change. Watch video below. In an interdependent and highly connected world where no individual, group, or nation is self-sufficient enough to reduce the earth’s … More My TED Talk on Great Power Competition and Climate Change
I gave this presentation, from a paper I am currently (still) writing, on “the politics of industrialization in Africa” at the Princeton University’s annual “Catalyzing Macroeconomic Policy for Development in Sub-Saharan Africa” conference on February 24, 2023. More to come in this space.
I recently published a paper entitled, “How Can African Countries Participate in U.S. Clean Energy Supply Chains?“, on October 4, 2023 to be precise. The paper examines the recent major pieces of U.S. climate-related legislation—the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act—and identifies three opportunities for … More How Can African Countries Participate in U.S. Clean Energy Supply Chains?
In the week starting March 7 2022, I was in Guyana, South America, to discuss strategies for oil-led development in the 21st century. I had a very engaging exchange with the business community, scholars, students, the media, policymakers and development partners on the opportunities and challenges that newfound oil/gas resources present to Guyana. As you … More Trip to Guyana to Discuss Oil-Led Development in the 21st Century
In October this year, some of my decade-long work and ideas on economic diversification in Africa was profiled in the New York Times. Very thankful to Peter Coy, the economics columnist and writer for the NYT, for finding my ideas interesting enough to devote an entire article to showcasing them with diligence and respect. Read … More My Work on Economic Diversification is Featured in the New York Times
As you know, I recently co-authored a report on “The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All”. I’m sharing below, some outputs from activities around the report. Here is a video of the report launch at Brookings Institution on 17 October 2019.
I recently wrote a blog post, for the World Bank’s Sustainable Energy for All blog, on the lessons developing countries can learn from Morocco’s experience with power sector reforms. This is based on my recently published research paper on “Lessons from Power Sector Reforms: the Case of Morocco“. Here’s the blog post below. It’s also … More What Can Developing Countries Learn from Morocco’s Experience with Power Sector Reforms?
Source: Cover of the Rethinking Power Sector Reforms On the 10th of September 2019, a new World Bank Report was published entitled, “Rethinking Power Sector Reforms in the Developing World“. The report is part of a multi year initiative that aims to refresh the policy debate on the electric power sector. It presents a … More New World Bank Report, “Rethinking Power Sector Reforms in the Developing World”
I co-wrote this blog post for the World Bank’s blog series to explain our new report on “The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All“. We identify certain productive investments needed in African countries to secure for more and better jobs. I am reproducing it below, and you can … More Blog Post – The Future of Work in Africa: Making Productive Investments for More and Better Jobs
Our new World Bank report, “The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All” was recently published. I’m very pleased to have co-authored this publication on such a critical topic on the agenda of governments across Africa. My colleagues and I examine the roles of skills, informality and social protection … More New Report Published: The Future of Work in Africa
On April 25th 2019, I participated in the global launch of the National Oil Company Database at the Open Government Hub in Washington DC. The database is a product of the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI). It is a very useful resource for policymakers, reform advocates and researchers to understand these state owned enterprises! Here’s … More Global Launch of the National Oil Company Database by NRGI
THE KNIGHT-HENNESY SCHOLARSHIP FOR GRADUATE STUDIES AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY. Apply by September 2017 and Enroll at Stanford in September 2018 Each year up to 100 high-achieving students (50 in the first year) who are independent thinkers, display purposeful leadership, and have a civic orientation will receive full funding to pursue a graduate education at Stanford. … More Scholarships and Development Opportunities No. 19
1. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AFRICAN PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS PROGRAM See website and brochure. UMAPS accepts direct applications from faculty members of colleges or universities in Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, and Uganda. Faculty members of colleges and universities in all other African countries cannot apply directly to the UMAPS program without first being nominated and invited to … More Scholarships and Development Opportunities No.17
I recently wrote this piece for The Conversation. A consistent feature of global analyses of Africa’s economic prospects is their fickleness. In the years since the global financial crisis in 2008, forecasts about Africa have swerved from deep pessimism to heady optimism, and back to a bearish outlook of slow growth and fragility. The vacillation … More To transform Africa’s economies, African companies matter too
Zainab Usman 