On Monday, October 28, 2024, a conference was held in Lecture Hall A of the UFHB Cocody campus on the topic “Modeling Development Policies: Scope, Limitations, and Applications in Developing Countries.” Organized jointly by CIRES and the UFR-SEG at the UFHB in Cocody, the conference was led by Professor Bernard DECALUWE, a distinguished scholar from Laval University (Quebec), one of the founding fathers of the Computable General Equilibrium Model and a senior researcher at CIRPEE (Interuniversity Center on Risk, Economic Policies, and Employment).

The opening ceremony featured three speeches:
To begin, Professor Koné Salif, Dean of the UFR-SEG, welcomed the participants, while emphasizing the importance of research in guiding development policies.

Following him, Professor Ballo Zié, President of the University, thanked the organizers and the speaker, emphasizing the relevance of the initiative. He concluded his remarks by officially declaring the conference open.

As for Dr. Diarra Ibrahim, Director of CIRES, he briefly introduced Professor Bernard DECALUWE by outlining his areas of expertise. He then explained that this conference was part of a study conducted by CIRES for the Coffee and Cocoa Council on the “Modeling and Impact Analysis of Economic Shocks and Policy Reforms on the Cocoa Sector in Côte d’Ivoire.”

During his lecture, Professor DECALUWE briefly presented the theoretical and methodological foundations of the Computable General Equilibrium Model (CGE). In his presentation, he highlighted the interactions that exist between the various economic actors, which constitute one of the starting points for constructing the Computable General Equilibrium Model, in order to analyze the impacts of public policies.

Following Professor DECALUWE’s presentation, Dr. FOFANA Ismaël, a specialist in Computable General Equilibrium Model issues, supported the speaker’s remarks, after which a Q&A session was opened with the audience. Participants were thus able to ask questions and delve deeper into certain aspects discussed, demonstrating interest in the use of modeling in economic decision-making.

This scientific event highlighted the importance of research and modeling in informing strategic development decisions, with a particular focus on the cocoa sector in Côte d'Ivoire.