Having started July 11 on the campus of African School of Economics (ASE), summer courses ended this Friday, July 22
2022. These courses, organized by QuantEcon in partnership with the Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (ENSEA) and the African School of Economics, have enabled students to learn new mathematical and statistical methods.

For ten days, students from the African School of Economics worked
diligently from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It took place in the René Boko room on the campus of
the African School of Economics located in Arconville. They watched daily pre-recorded lectures, completed group exercises, and led discussions on topics ranging from data engineering with Pandas to modeling employment and unemployment. The first week introduced basic Python programming for machine learning as well as mathematical tools.

The second week built on this knowledge base to enable students to apply the models to social problems in the
real world. This allowed participants to expand on similar theories they had learned in other classes at ASE. At the end of the course, the students have a better understanding of a comprehensive toolset that connects mathematical modeling to
economic theories.

After completing the QuantEcon course, ASE students have improved their technical skills in computer driven economic modeling, equipped with a solid foundation of technical skills for their future positions as world class economists, data scientists or researchers.

According to Judicaël Waounwa, first-year Master’s student in Mathematics, Economics, and Statistics at ASE,
“What is useful in this course is that it demonstrates how statistical instruments and
mathematics can be powerful in the world of economics.” The student believes that this course “allows you to understand how
statistical and mathematical instruments can help improve the well being of the people. It also gives us a lot of resources to
learn and improve our macroeconomic modeling”

As for Marina, a student in the same field, she adds:
“Everything we learned in the QuantEcon workshop is very useful to us. Whether it be to pursue a doctorate or look for a job after our Masters, we will need these skills from QuantEcon. » Already, the participants make projections. “They will be used to solve the economic problems of our countries like statisticians and economists that we are trained to be.”