Over the last half-decade, the AERC has financed and staffed the Cambridge Economic Survey of Africa—a study of Africa's growth performance in the second half of the 20th Century. As that period constitutes as well the first 50 years of political independence in Africa, the survey provides the first comprehensive overview, analysis and critique of economic policy making in Africa and of the impact of policy choices upon the performance of its economies. This two day conference seeks to assess and evaluate the evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, that underlies our conclusions and the analytic methods, both formal and statistical, that have been applied to these data.