Addis Ababa — The ninth edition of the annual African Economic Conference (AEC) will be held from 1-3 November on the theme, "Knowledge and Innovation for Africa's Transformation" at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa.

In addition to the wealth of exchange by outstanding academics and development practitioners in the field of economics on key challenges facing Africa, the Conference will also launch the 2014 Report on the Millennium Development Goals. An award will also be given to the best paper presented at the Conference, in honor of outstanding scholarship. The award is the result of months of paper submissions by key researchers from around Africa.

Present at the opening will include ECA's Executive Secretary, Carlos Lopes; African Development Bank's Acting Chief Economist and Vice-President, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa and UNDP Resident Representative in Ethiopia, Eugene Owusu. In addition, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson, African Union Commission (AUC) and Demitu Hambisa, Ethiopia's Minister of Science and Technology are expected to grace the opening ceremony.

AEC is a flagship event that has been firmly established as a major forum that brings together outstanding academics and development practitioners in the field of economics to dialogue and exchange on key challenges facing Africa.

The Conference series is organized jointly by the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Development Program.

This year's AEC will offer a unique avenue for researchers, policymakers and development practitioners from Africa, and elsewhere, to debate Africa's soft infrastructure needs and their catalytic impact on the speed and scope of economic transformation and inclusive growth. Selected presentations will focus on addressing specific sub-topics related to the overall theme.

For more on the past AEC, click on: http://www.uneca.org/aec2013 .