Accelerating Productivity, Job Creation & Growth for Business Enterprises in South Africa

May 21, 2026
Pretoria, South Africa

Accelerating Productivity, Job Creation & Growth for Business Enterprises in South Africa

Economic growth is never easy — but for middle-income countries, it is slower, harder, and more structurally constrained. How can they break free from the so-called middle-income trap? What reforms in education, talent allocation, institutional strength, and energy strategy are most vital? The Growth Academy offers a space to confront these questions, and to reimagine policy grounded in the realities of each country's unique development path.

The Growth Academy Africa: Accelerating Productivity, Jobs, and Firm Growth in South Africa is part of a prestigious global series co-led by the World Bank Group and the University of Chicago. It brings together policymakers, economists, and practitioners to address South Africa's — and the region's — most pressing growth challenges.

Co-organized by the World Bank Group Institute for Economic Development, the Growth Academy, and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA‑NEPAD), with the generous support from the Ministry of Finance, Japan / Government of Japan through the Knowledge for Change Program, the Growth Academy Africa will convene key national institutions, financial actors, academia, and think tanks to share evidence, align institutional priorities, and identify reforms to support enterprise-led growth. It will also seeks to draw practical lessons that can be applied across the region, supporting Agenda 2063, STISA‑2034, and Africa’s broader economic transformation.

All times listed below are in South African Standard Time (SAST).

May 21, 2026
08:30 – 09:00	Registration & Welcome Coffee
09:00 – 09:30	Welcoming Remarks Brando Okolo, Senior Advisor and Head of the Science, Technology and Innovation Office, AUDA-NEPAD Satu Kristiina Kahkonen, World Bank Division Director for South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini Somik V. Lall, Director of Strategy and Operations, World Bank Development Economics Vice Presidency
09:30 – 10:15	Keynote Address Africa’s Next Growth Chapter: How to Avoid the Middle-Income Trap and Create Jobs at Scale Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics Audience Q&A
10:15 – 10:45	Fireside Chat From South Africa’s Growth Challenge to Africa’s Future Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, in conversation with Jakkie Cilliers, Chairman of the Institute for Security Studies Board of Trustees and head of the African Futures and Innovation Program in the Pretoria office of the Institute.
10:45 – 11:30	Coffee / Tea Break
11:30 – 12:15	Report Presentation South Africa’s Growth Challenge: Jobs, Productivity, and Policy Priorities Ufuk Akcigit, Arnold C. Harberger Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Growth Academy at the University of Chicago Audience Q&A
12.15 – 13.15	Panel Discussion From Diagnosis to Delivery: South Africa’s Growth, Jobs, and Reform Agenda Moderator: Somik V. Lall, Director of Strategy and Operations, World Bank Development Economics Vice Presidency Panelists: Risenga Maluleke, Statistician General, Statistics South Africa - StatsSA Duncan Pieterse, Director General of the National Treasury in South Africa Ann Bernstein, Executive Director, Centre for Development and Enterprise, South Africa Audience Q&A
13:15 – 14:30	Lunch Break
14:30 – 15:00	Quality Infrastructure, Connectivity, and Jobs in Africa — Lessons from Japan’s Partnership Experience
15:00 – 16:00	Growth and Firm Dynamics in Africa Mahmoud Arbouch, Policy Center for the New South, Morocco Richmond Atta-Ankomah, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana Eyayu Tesfaye Mulugeta, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia Discussion by Roberto J. Fattal, Senior Economist, World Bank Development Economics Research Group, Africa Growth Team Audience Q&A
16:00 – 16:30	Coffee / Tea Break
16:30 – 17:30	Panel Discussion What Works? Scaling Firms for Productivity, Innovation, and Jobs Moderator: Francesca Lotti, World Bank Group Institute for Economic Development Panelists: Abbi M. Kedir, Research Director, African Economic Research Consortium, AERC Smita Kuriakose, Lead Economist in the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice, World Bank Mario Scerri, Independent Academic Ufuk Akcigit, Arnold C. Harberger Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Growth Academy at the University of Chicago Audience Q&A
17:30 – 18:00	Plenary Wrap-Up & Closing Remarks Key Takeaways and Next Steps Somik V. Lall, Director of Strategy and Operations, World Bank Development Economics Vice Presidency Brando Okolo, Senior Advisor and Head of the Science, Technology and Innovation Office, AUDA-NEPAD
18:00 – 19:00	Networking Reception

The Growth Academy, co-led by the World Bank Group and the University of Chicago, has previously convened leading thinkers and policymakers in Chicago, Washington D.C., Cairo, Bucharest, and Jakarta. Each edition builds a bridge between rigorous analytics and actionable country strategies, fostering partnerships that have shaped growth debates in more than 30 countries.

The Growth Academy is a living version of the World Development Report 2024: The Middle-Income Trap. It puts the report's findings into practice by helping countries design policies that drive innovation and growth.