Popular discussions of Africa often focus on the region’s relative poverty, and ask what role historical events like colonialism and the slave trade have played in shaping its development over time. For a long time, the absence of systematic data on African economies before c. 1960 meant these discussions were more speculative than factual. However, recent decades have seen substantial advances in what we know about long-run patterns of development in Africa. This webinar will review recent innovations in the field and place Africa’s long-run economic development in comparative perspective.