NOVAFRICA in 2025: Celebrating Our Publications and Looking Ahead!

As 2025 comes to a close, we reflect on a year of impactful research, collaboration, and academic engagement at NOVAFRICA.

From high-impact publications to symposia, seminars, and preparations for our next international conference, this year marked important milestones for our research community. In this article, we highlight some of our key publications and look ahead to what’s coming next!

Research Highlights: High-Impact Publications

Armand, A., & Kim Taveras, I. (Forthcoming). From sea to shore: The impact of ocean acidification on child health. Journal of the European Economic Association.

Armand, A., Carneiro, P., Tagliati, F., & Xia, Y. (Forthcoming). Can subsidized employment tackle long-term unemployment? Experimental evidence from North Macedonia. Journal of Development Economics.

Batista, C., Han, D., Haushofer, J., Khanna, G., McKenzie, D., Mobarak, A. M., Theoharides, C., & Yang, D. (2025). Brain drain or brain gain? Effects of high-skilled international emigration on origin countries. Science, 388, 6749.

Batista, C., & Vicente, P. C. (2025). Is mobile money changing rural Africa? Evidence from a field experiment. Review of Economics and Statistics, 107(3), 835–844.

Batista, C., Costa, D., Freitas, P., Lima, G., & Balcão Reis, A. (2025). What matters for the decision to study abroad? A lab-in-the-field experiment in Cape Verde. Journal of Development Economics, 173, 103401.

Delavande, A., Bhalotra, S., Font Gilabert, P., & Maselko, J. (2025). Maternal investments in children: The role of expected effort and return. The Economic Journal, 135(667), 712–747.

Delavande, A., Kohler, H.-P., & Vergili, A. (Forthcoming). Infant mortality expectation and fertility choice in rural Malawi. Demography.

Delavande, A., Del Bono, E., & Holford, A. (2025). Imprecise health beliefs and health behavior. Journal of Health Economics, 102, 103003.

Girard, V., Molina-Millán, T., & Vic, G. (2025). Artisanal mining in Africa: Green for gold? The Economic Journal, 135(672), 2578–259.

Melnikov, N., Schmidt‑Padilla, C., & Sviatschi, M. M. (2025). Gangs, labor mobility, and development. Econometrica, 93(6), 2083-2121.

Miehe, C., Nabwire, L., Sparrow, R., Spielman, D. J., & Van Campenhout, B. (2025). Miracle seeds: Biased expectations, complementary input use, and the dynamics of smallholder technology adoption. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 74(1), 305–334.

Webb, D. (Accepted). Silence to Solidarity: How Communication About a Minority Affects Discrimination. Journal of Political Economy.

Research Highlights: Events

The 2025 CEPR Development Economics Annual Symposium was a success!

Two days of knowledge sharing with people from all over the world to discuss studies on different aspects of economic development.

This Symposium, co-hosted by CEPR and NOVAFRICA, brought together leading development economists to present and discuss cutting-edge research on key issues in development economics.

NOVAFRICA Research Seminars

The NOVAFRICA Research seminars series hosts talks by international speakers on topics related to economic development. The seminars are open to the public.

The NOVAFRICA Brown Bag Series and The NOVAFRICA – IGC @ Quelimane Webinars series

The NOVAFRICA Brown Bag Series promotes the exchange of ideas ongoing projects among Knowledge Center members. Throughout the year, it has highlighted innovative research, fostered collaboration, and showcased the expertise of our community.

The NOVAFRICA–IGC @ Quelimane webinar series brings international researchers to discuss development, migration, climate, taxation, and urban infrastructure, sharing research impact in Quelimane, Mozambique, with local stakeholders, funders, and the public.

All these remarkable events took place at the Nova SBE campus. It was a pleasure to welcome students, researchers from top universities and international organizations, and all people interested in economic development worldwide who shared their research among themselves and with the NOVAFRICA community.

Media Dissemination

The emigrant is an ambassador of the country; by fostering economic development, they are giving back what they received through their education (Pt only)
Visão

Why ‘Brain Drain’ is an incomplete story of migration
VoxDevTalks Podcast – VoxDev

Cyprus has a ‘brain gain’ plan
Business Daily interview about brain gain – BBC

The Future of Higher Education Debated in Praia, Featuring the Presentation of an Expectations Survey (Pt only)
RTC – Radio Televisão Cabo Verde

What returns when talent leaves?
Our Long Walk Podcast

Evidence based migration policies
SciLux Podcast

The impacts of immigration at destination – Part 1 (Pt only)
45 Graus Podcast – Expresso

The impacts of emigration at origin – Part 2 (Pt only)
45 Graus Podcast – Expresso

Real Impact Stories: A Study of the Southern Region of the Country (Pt only)
Interview on Digital Finance – Economia & Mercado Moçambique

Research Highlights: Selected Ongoing Projects

Higher Future – The role of information on student migration from Cape Verde

Salience and accessibility of disaster risk information in Mozambique

Reducing maternal and infant mortality in Guinea-Bissau

Experimental evidence on occupational choices of microentrepreneurs in Mozambique

Urbanization meets the environment: Can Community-level Technical Assistance Induce Local Adaptation and Protect Against Flooding?

Countering Islamic Radicalization in Northern Mozambique: Radio Campaigning and Adolescent Sensitization in Religious Schools

Information Design to Improve Service Delivery: Experimental Evidence from Community Health Workers in Guinea-Bissau

Entrepreneurship as a Social Mobility and Inclusion Strategy

Raising Educational Aspirations – An Experimental Evaluation

Knowledege Dissemination

NOVAFRICA Sustainable Development Talks

A podcast series on development in Africa, bringing together experts from a wide range of institutions.

Listen to the podcasts here.

Also available on Spotify

NOVAFRICA Merit Scholarship

NOVAFRICA aims to support the African leaders of tomorrow. The NOVAFRICA Merit Scholarship contributes to this goal. In 2025, Mercy Uba, a talented Nigerian student and recipient of the NOVAFRICA Merit Scholarship, successfully completed the Master’s in International Development & Public Policy.

NOVAFRICA Student Group

NOVAFRICA continues empowering students passionate about development economics research.

In 2025, the Student Group, comprised over 30 students, hosted events, produced podcasts and published blog posts.

True to its mission of being actively involved in the evidence that the center produces, several students have also helped to implement collaborated in field research projects in Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Portugal, and have given support to many of the center’s initiatives.

Get to know NSG and their activities here.

Looking Ahead: 2026 NOVAFRICA Conference

We are excited to continue fostering dialogue between researchers and policymakers at the 2026 NOVAFRICA Conference on Economic Development.

In 2026, NOVAFRICA will celebrate its 15th anniversary. To mark this milestone, the 2026 conference will bring together leading academics and policymakers to discuss frontier research in development economics and its policy implications.

Keynote Speakers

Abhijit Banerjee

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Isaac Mbiti

University of Notre Dame

Sandra Sequeira

London School of Economics (LSE)

NOVAFRICA Scientific Committee

Brais Alvarez Pereira

Find more information here

Testimony

“NOVAFRICA has been central to my academic journey, providing a supportive and stimulating environment throughout my Master’s and PhD in Economics. In 2025, this partnership was particularly productive, marked by key milestones in my research and professional growth.

Looking back, 2025 was a year of significant academic progress. It was a time of professional growth, intellectual exploration, and concrete achievements. As I approach 2026, I look forward to wrapping up my dissertation and preparing for the job market, knowing that my time with NOVAFRICA has been instrumental in shaping both the direction of my research and my career.”

Frederica Mendonça, NOVAFRICA PhD Student