This Sunday, August 12, 2018 we learned, with great sorrow and sadness, of the passing the eminent development economist Professor Samir Amin on the eve of his 87th birthday. An illustrious thinker, the late Samir Amin leaves behind a wealth of economic thought on developing economies that he has inspired since the early sixties by his many publications and thought-provoking conferences.

As its Director for 10 years (1970 - 1980), IDEP is particularly touched by the passing of one of its pioneer-directors who made an indelible mark in the history of IDEP through his accomplishments in training and research in the domains of development planning and economy management in Africa. Indeed, about ten years after its creation, IDEP was offered the opportunity to be led by the famous disappeared who, after his doctorate acquired in 1957, had finished to prove himself, from a administrative point of view in Egypt and Mali, then academic as associate professor of economics at the universities of Poitiers, Vincennes and Dakar. His astute leadership enabled the institute to gain and strengthen its identity in the delivery of capacity development and research programs that are strongly tailored to fight against underdevelopment.

With Samir Amin, IDEP gained momentum and is proud to be continuing on with this momentum, almost forty years later, in delivering on its mandate of building the capacity of African countries to effectively plan for their development and efficiently manage their economies.

In this sad moment, we offer our condolences to his family and to the African continent, to which he has always devoted himself with remarkable zeal and dynamism.