Governments face increasingly complex challenges: food insecurity, climate shocks, rising demands for accountability, and more. To make sound decisions, they need reliable answers to questions of what works, for whom, where, and at what cost. For more than a decade, our partnership with the West African Development Bank (BOAD) has provided policymakers in West Africa with answers, showing why lasting collaborations are essential for transforming systems and delivering meaningful impact.

It is always a bit magical when a conference turns into a conversation—and then into a movement. That’s what it felt like at this year’s Economic Science Association (ESA) Africa Conference hosted by Busara in Nairobi. The conference set something important in motion—a step toward ensuring that research in the Global South is shaped by the people it serves.