The Department of Economics in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences organised and hosted the Econometric Society Africa Region Meetings at the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate in the Kruger National Park from 25 to 29 July 2016.

The conference, which included 80 papers, was attended by researchers from over 60 institutions in 28 countries representing six continents. The conference also featured addresses from Prof Eddie Dekel, Sir Richard Blundell and Prof Stephen Turnovsky. Prof Dekel is the William R Kenan, Jr, Professor of Economics at Northwestern University, the Grace and Daniel Ross Professor of Economics at Tel Aviv University, and the President of the Econometric Society. Sir Richard Blundell is the Ricardo Professor of Political Economy at University College London and the Director of the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy in the Institute of Fiscal Studies. Prof Stephen Turnovsky is the Ford and Louisa Van Voorhis Professor of Economics at the University of Washington and Honorary Professor of Economics at Victoria University.

The Econometric Society, originally founded in 1930 through the joint efforts of the American Economic Association, the American Statistical Association and the American Mathematical Society, has since become an international association, with branches on all continents. Africa joined the Econometric Society in 2015, following the incorporation of the African Econometric Society. The African Econometric Society was founded in 2002 by the Department of Economics at the University of Pretoria. Prof Reneé van Eyden of UP was one of the founding members.