SOUTHMOD presented at a UNU-WIDER conference

UNU-WIDER organized a two-day online conference on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in Africa on 11-12 February 2021. The preliminary results of an ongoing SOUTHMOD study were presented on the second day of the conference.

The conference Development challenges in Africa in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic brought together participants from scholarly, policy and business communities to discuss the policy challenges faced by Africa in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring presentations from leading scholars and policy makers the conference provided a forum to discuss the socioeconomic implications, development challenges and potential policy solutions to the crisis in the context of the African continent.

UNU-WIDER Research Associate Jesse Lastunen participated in the event to present the preliminary results of an ongoing research project on COVID-19 undertaken by the SOUTHMOD group at UNU-WIDER in collaboration with SASPRI and the University of Essex. His presentation was titled 'To the rescue? The mitigating role of tax and benefit rescue packages for poverty and inequality in Africa amid the COVID-19 pandemic'.

To see the recording of his presentation go to the conference webpage.

The presentation was part of the UNU-WIDER project SOUTHMOD - simulating tax and benefit policies for development. Tax-benefit microsimulation models provide knowledge for better policy-making and inclusive development. The models allow for analysing and comparing the effects of different policy scenarios  on poverty, inequality, and government revenues.