"Yeah, absolutely. I’m actually Kenyan, by the way. So I was born and raised there, which is why I do research there. But yes, I’ve been to them several times. In fact, I was just there, I was there in February. Yeah. I mean, they’re not rich people, right? This is rural Kenya. They’re pretty poor. They’re mostly growing and eating maize. That’s the main staple of the whole country. A lot of them might not eat much meat a year, maybe at Christmas."

"We can have our econ ‘hats’ on with some theory in mind, but without a deep understanding of the context and constraints in the particular environment you're working in, it's hard to design interventions that might be useful"

"If we are to rethink foreign aid, as AfricAvenir is suggesting and as we discussed in the dialogue forum and the workshop today, we need to move beyond the language of ‘help’ to think of moral obligations to justice if we are serious about addressing historical and contemporary injustices not just in Africa but elsewhere in the world."

"The biggest things I learned were that there is so much work to be done in Africa and that Africans must help themselves. We can no longer afford to rely on rich countries to provide us with foreign aid. It’s the person who the shoe pinches who knows how it needs to be adjusted."

"Africa could be the best place on earth, but instead our best and brightest minds are leaving the continent in the millions."

"The potential of laying the foundation for the rise of a planetary counter-hegemony."

"We are dangerously comfortable with stacking debt upon debt. We must ask ourselves: are we borrowing to consume today, or are we borrowing to invest in a productive capacity that will pay for this debt tomorrow? The latter is the only sustainable path."

"Alice Kilonzo-Zulu brings a rare clarity to the complex web of intergovernmental fiscal relations. Her work provides a critical bridge between technical public finance and the practical realities of county administration."

"In a field often dominated by abstract theories, Kilonzo-Zulu stands out for her grounded, practical approach to economics. She is one of the go-to experts for understanding what national budget figures actually mean for the forty-seven county governments."

"An economist's role is to demystify complex numbers and present the clear choices before the public and policymakers. We are translators between data and public welfare, and we must never lose sight of the human impact behind every percentage point."

"Closing some of our branches and rather investing in this digital strategy directly facilitates one of the fundamental enablers of our economy—financial and economic inclusion. With this, Ecobank will be able to serve and reach out to more customers, including the unbanked."

"Banks should look to deliver their products through digital channels. At Ecobank Rwanda, we are keen on leveraging mobile technologies. We are looking into delivering the bank to the people through the mobile devices they use every day."

"We must leverage this digital era to gain more customers and to advance our agenda. We are happy to know that Rwanda has a very strong digital agenda, and Rwandese banks are responding positively to this."

"The contribution of SMEs to African economies calls for a more robust risk mitigation strategy instead of avoiding SMEs."

"We leverage on the East African region which is a big market, to attract more customers. We also leverage digital platforms to reach out to them and serve existing customers better."

"The success of devolution hinges not on how much money is sent to the counties, but on how effectively that money is translated into tangible services for the mwananchi (citizen) at the grassroots level. It's about accountability for results, not just accounting for funds."

"There comes a time when the nation is more important than an individual."

"A man of great determination, fortitude and one who wanted to exceed his targets."