Good economic advice is rarely lost for lack of data. It is lost because the question was poorly framed, the model was not reviewed, or the findings reached decision-makers in a form they could not use. Leaders of analysis teams therefore need technical judgement and management discipline together, particularly when budgets are tight and policy choices carry political weight.

This programme moves from foundations to leadership practice. It begins by revisiting the core concepts used in applied policy work, including opportunity cost, elasticities, externalities, public goods and incentives, and then shows how these shape the design of taxes, subsidies, regulation and public investment. Participants work with macro and sectoral indicators, learn the logic of econometric evidence without needing to run regressions themselves, and examine the strengths and limits of cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria appraisal and impact evaluation.

The final sessions concentrate on performance: planning a work programme, allocating analysts, reviewing outputs, writing policy briefs and managing stakeholders. Teaching uses spreadsheet exercises, short policy cases from African and international settings and a closing brief prepared for a simulated cabinet audience.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Frame a policy problem as a clear, answerable economic question.
• Apply market-failure, incentive and welfare concepts to the design of policy options.
• Interpret macroeconomic and sectoral indicators and their implications for policy.
• Conduct a cost-benefit appraisal with discounting and sensitivity analysis.
• Judge the credibility of econometric and impact evaluation evidence offered to support a policy.
• Assess distributional effects and risks of reform on different household and business groups.
• Direct an analysis team through commissioning, review and quality assurance.
• Write concise policy briefs and present recommendations to senior decision-makers.

The programme is intended for analysts and managers who produce or use economic evidence, including:

• Policy analysts and economists in ministries, treasuries and planning departments
• Heads of research, policy and strategy units
• Budget and fiscal analysts
• Regulatory authority and competition agency staff
• Think tank, university and consultancy researchers
• Development partner and donor programme advisers
• County and local government planning officers
• Private sector economists and corporate strategy teams

Participants complete the programme with:

• A reusable template for scoping a policy question and terms of reference for analysis.
• A working cost-benefit spreadsheet with discounting and sensitivity tests.
• A checklist for challenging the assumptions behind models and forecasts.
• A one-page policy brief written for a senior audience.
• A set of performance measures for an economic analysis unit.
• A plan for improving how their own team commissions and reviews evidence.

The programme is built around the work of leading analysis, with an emphasis on:

• Short conceptual inputs followed immediately by applied exercises
• Spreadsheet workshops on appraisal and forecasting
• Policy case files drawn from African and international experience
• Critique sessions where participants review each other's briefs
• A closing simulation in which delegates present advice to a mock cabinet panel

On completing the programme and its exercises, each participant receives a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.