About the EPM Program:

The Economic Policy Management (EPM) Program

The Masters in Economic Policy Management program was established as a professional program for economic policy advisors in developing countries and emerging market economies, funded by The World Bank, the African Capacity Building Fund (ACBF), and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The African Capacity Building Program and the World Bank initiated the EPM project in 1992. The new graduate program, leading to a Masters degree in Economic Policy Management was developed in response to the lack of qualified economic policy analysts and managers in sub-Saharan Africa. EPM was set apart from standard economics programs, because it emphasized policy application through student interaction and internships, which made it ideal for practitioners.

The long term objective of the project was to increase the capabilities of African universities in providing Economic Policy Management programs at a Masters level. In the short term, the goal was to train a significant amount of economic policy analysts and development managers to satisfy the immediate need. The project also set out to reduce the gender inequality in the profession of economics in Africa.

Makerere University is one of only four universities in Africa that offer this type of program. The 60-credit program has four key components:

1. An economic core, consisting of macroeconomics and microeconomics.
2. A management core to enhance the advisor’s effectiveness within and across organizations.
3. A language core in both French and English, to facilitate the exchange of policies across regions and countries and computer skills.

4. A six-month internship for students to be able to apply their EPM skills in an organization outside their home country.

Results

1. August 1998, the 1st cohort consisting of 27 practitioners began at Makerere University, with half coming from outside Uganda

1. To date, 285 students from 12 countries have participated in the eight cohorts from the Makerere EPM program, and over ninety percent have graduated and have been awarded with a MA in Economic Policy Management. Of these participants, 29% are women.

3. Participants in the program have done their internships at a wide range of organizations, including the UN, the World Bank Group, universities, financial intermediaries, central banks, development NGOs and consulting firms.

4. The internships are also geographically diverse being located in Africa, Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and the Caribbean.