Development Impact West Africa (DIWA)

Happy New Year! 🎄🎇🎊 May this year be filled with success, joy, and meaningful impact. Cheers to new beginnings! #HappyNewYear2025

Wrap Up Your Year with an Engaging Read! As we close out an incredible year, we’re excited to share the highlights in our 2024 End-of-Year Newsletter. What’s inside? ✨ A recap of our key achievements ✨ Exciting collaborations, events, and workshops ✨ Exclusive insights and updates just for you Download Now: ✅ English: bit.ly/DN24_English ✅ French: bit.ly/DN24_French We’d love to hear what moments stood out to you in 2024! Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. Season’s Greetings and best wishes for a fantastic New Year! Charles Amoatey | Richard Kingsford Otoo | Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) | William and Flora Hewlett Foundation | International Centre for Evaluation and Development (ICED) | Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)

We’re excited to feature Grace Abban - Ampiah in our final Fellow spotlight of the year! Grace Abban - Ampiah is a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), where she is swiftly establishing herself as a visionary in human resource management and entrepreneurial coaching. Currently pursuing a PhD in Business Administration with a specialisation in Human Resource Management, her research aims to enhance leadership training programs that equip leaders to tackle complex organisational challenges. Grace holds an MSc in Human Resource Management from The University of Sheffield. Known for her innovative teaching methods, she plays a pivotal role in nurturing Africa’s future business leaders. Her commitment to excellence is evident in both her teaching and scholarly contributions. Grace is undertaking a fellowship at the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is deepening her research into effective management strategies and entrepreneurial frameworks. Her current project, “Do Social Expectations Discourage Graduates From Accepting Low-Paid Jobs? Evidence From Ghana,” examines how societal norms shape job choices among recent graduates. Working alongside her faculty mentor, Professor Jamie McCasland, and fellow researcher Leila Njee Bugha, she has honed her skills through workshops on global best practices. Grace’s contributions to scholarly literature span employee performance, ethical business practices, and gender dynamics in leadership. Her work has earned her several accolades, including the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the Africa Journal of Management (AFAM), recognition on International Women's Day, and the GLOBE Certificate of Excellence in Cross-Cultural Research (2020). Additionally, she received the Turkish Erasmus Scholarship Programme to support her PhD thesis, “Enhancing Leadership Training Programs: An Evaluative Centred Framework.” A dedicated mentor and leader, Grace has spearheaded academic colloquiums, practitioner forums, and entrepreneurship fairs at GIMPA, bridging the gap between academia and industry. She sees her fellowship as a transformative opportunity, empowering her to drive innovation in education and human resource management. Grace acknowledges the support of the Development Impact West Africa (DIWA) and CEGA in enabling her to make meaningful strides toward addressing youth unemployment and advancing organisational development across Africa. #DIWAFellowship #GIMPA #CapacityBuilding

December is here—the final month of the year! 🎉 As we wrap up 2024, we're excited to spotlight one of our Fellows: Dr. Isaac Doku, PhD! 👏✨ Dr. Isaac Doku, PhD is a pragmatic economist and lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba. With a PhD in Economics from Nelson Mandela University, Dr. Doku’s work over the past decade has centred on some of the most pressing issues facing Sub-Saharan Africa today: climate finance, food security, and sustainable economic development. A First-Class Honours graduate in Economics from the University of Ghana, Dr. Doku has built a reputation for his rigorous research and analytical approach. His prolific publication record in peer-reviewed journals addresses the intersection of gender equality, environmental sustainability, and economic empowerment. Notably, he has received the prestigious Emerald Literati Award for his research, which has earned him recognition in academic and policy circles alike. Dr. Doku’s academic pursuits are matched by his practical impact. As an Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) Africa scholar, he has secured multiple grants to advance his research, including a pilot grant in education for Ghana in 2025 and a small grant for Nigeria. He has also lent his expertise to consultancy projects that evaluate climate finance mechanisms and conduct community needs assessments. As a lecturer and mentor, he has shaped the academic careers of numerous postgraduate students, offering insights into econometric analysis, research methodologies, and policy development. Currently, Dr. Doku is a fellow at the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at University of California, Berkeley, sponsored by Development Impact West Africa (DIWA). His research, focused on women’s empowerment in the context of climate adaptation, investigates the impact of weather index insurance payouts on smallholder farmers in Ghana, with a focus on gender dynamics. The project, which aligns with SDG 5—gender equality—has the potential to reshape policies that address climate change and gender disparities in agricultural communities. Throughout his fellowship, Dr. Doku has refined his expertise in experimental research, data analysis, and machine learning, mastering tools like R, Python, and Stata. Working alongside leading scholars, including his mentor Aprajit Mahajan, he has deepened his understanding of development economics while contributing to high-profile seminars and conferences at University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and University of California, Davis. Dr. Doku is committed to bridging the gap between policy and research. He credits DIWA and CEGA for providing him with the resources and networks necessary to amplify his research and extend his influence in academic and policy circles. His achievements and ongoing work exemplify his dedication to creating impactful, evidence-based solutions for Africa’s development challenges. #DIWAFellowship #GIMPA #CapacityBuilding

DIWA Presents at the 2024 National Education Week At the 2024 Education Week yesterday, Prof. Charles Amoatey, Director of DIWA, alongside Samuel Botchway, a DIWA Research Fellow, and Julia Duodu, presented the findings of their groundbreaking study, “Equipping State Actors for Change: A Study on Human and Institutional Capacity Assessment and Prioritization for Transforming Ghana’s TVET System.” Organized by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), the event, themed “The Education Transformation Agenda: Evidence from 2017,” brought together stakeholders from Ghana’s education sector to reflect on policy achievements and challenges. Hosted at the UPSA Conference Centre, it aimed to assess progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 and discuss innovative strategies for education reform. The study presented by DIWA emphasizes the need for robust capacity-building measures to strengthen Ghana’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system, aligning with national development goals under the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies. Catch the full presentation here: https://bit.ly/3AUWCSx #DIWA #EducationWeek2024 #TransformingTVET #TVETReform #EvidenceInAction #EducationForAll

Development Impact West Africa (DIWA) is in the project design phase for its study on "Assessing the Impact of the Withdrawal of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS on the Operationalisation of the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol, with a Focus on Cross-Border Movement and Trade, Using Ghana and Burkina Faso as a Case Study." This phase requires engaging key stakeholders to gain insight into issues on the ground, particularly regarding cross-border movements and trade. In line with this, the DIWA team—Mr. Richard Kingsford Otoo, Research and Evaluations Manager, Mr. Samuel Botchway, Research Fellow, and Emmanuella N. Aikins, MA—on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, consulted the Migration Information Management Bureau (Chief Superintendent Francis Ayebie), the Border Management Department (Chief Superintendent Yaw Sarkodie Aidoo), and the International Relations Department (Chief Superintendent Simon Asare) of the Ghana Immigration Service. As the primary institution in migration governance, DIWA met with the heads of these units to understand the current situation along the Ghana-Burkina Faso border amidst recent regionalisation developments in the Sahel. Stay tuned for updates on this study. #Follow, #Like, and #Share #ECOWAS #FreeMovement #Sahel

We are excited to announce the release of our latest #publication, “An Exploratory Study of the Impact of the One-Village-One-Dam Initiative in Northern #Ghana”. This study investigates the effects of the Ghana government’s flagship One-Village-One-Dam (#1V1D) initiative on the livelihoods of rural farmers across the five regions of Northern Ghana. Our sincere appreciation goes to the research team—Prof. Charles Amoatey, Prof. Samuel Adams, Dr. Joe Taabazuing, Richard Kingsford Otoo, Dr. Emmanuel Abokyi, and Michael Tetteh Martey, BA, MA, MPhil—for their invaluable contributions. We also extend our gratitude to USAID, Feed the Future MRR Innovation Lab and the International Centre for Evaluation and Development (ICED) for their generous funding and support. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/dnpwZ3se Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)

This week, we shine our Alumni Spotlight on Dr. Oyeteju Odufuwa. Dr. Oyeteju Odufuwa is an illustrious academic and development economist who focuses on health, labour, and population economics. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Ibadan, where she also completed her BSc and MSc degrees, earning top honours, including the prestigious Tony Elumelu Legacy Prize for Best Graduating Masters’ Student. Dr. Odufuwa’s research interests span the fields of economics, public health, labour, population, and development. Her doctoral thesis examined the relationship between maternal mental health and labour market outcomes in Nigeria. Currently a lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Ibadan, she is also an Assistant Tutor at the Centre for Sustainable Development (CESDEV). In addition to her academic roles, Dr. Odufuwa has a rich professional background, including work in the banking sector and consulting, as well as extensive experience in capacity building and training workshops across various states in Nigeria. Her consultancy engagements often focus on demographic dividend programming and integrating demographic insights into national and state-level policy frameworks as a Research Fellow with the Health Policy Training and Research Programme (HPTRP). Dr. Odufuwa has attended and presented at numerous international and domestic conferences, with notable participation in the National Transfer Accounts (NTA) conferences, both NTA Global and NTA Africa, the African Population Conference and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)’s biannual workshops. Her scholarly work includes publications on demographic dividend monitoring, mental healthcare-seeking behaviour, and the socioeconomic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has co-authored several high-impact journal articles and reports, contributing significantly to understanding demographic trends and their implications for sustainable development in Africa. A recipient of multiple scholarships and grants, including full sponsorship for her PhD studies by AERC, Dr. Odufuwa is also a dedicated mentor, engaging in training workshops to build the next generation of researchers and policy practitioners in Nigeria. Her work in gender-based violence prevention in schools and her involvement in initiatives to harness the demographic dividend for sustainable development reflect her commitment to leveraging evidence-based research for policy impact. She is currently a post-doctoral research fellow on the Advancing Resiliency in Self-employed Women in Nigeria (Arise&Win Project), where she works with other team members on co-producing interventions to improve the resilience of self-employed young women as they face disruptive life events. With a keen interest in fostering inclusive economic growth, Dr. Odufuwa continues to contribute to academic and policy discourse through her teaching, research, and consultancy work.

DIWA Fellows and Researchers participate in the 2024 Global Evidence to Action (#E2A) Conference in San Francisco, CA. As part of our ongoing efforts to institutionalize the use of evidence for policy-making across the subregion, DIWA funded two outstanding researchers—Isaac Doku, PhD and Grace Abban - Ampiah—for a Resident Fellowship program at the University of California, Berkeley. Over the past few weeks, they have engaged in impactful seminars, workshops, and conferences, including the 2024 Global Evidence to Action (E2A) Conference organized by the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA). This year’s conference, held in San Francisco, focused on the theme, Centering #Gender #Equity in Responses to #Global #Poverty. During the conference, Prof. Aaron Abuosi, an associate professor at the University of Groningen Business School (UGBS) and a DIWA alumnus, presented findings from his DIWA-funded study titled “Encouraging Male Involvement in Maternal Care: Evidence from Ghana”. His presentation highlighted the role of male counterparts in improving maternal health using a randomized control trial. Following the conference, Prof. Abousi engaged with Isaac and Grace to share insights on key steps to conducting research within the subregion, the challenges and successes using his study as a case. He emphasized the importance of context in designing effective social interventions. This interaction provided the fellows with a rich understanding of how evidence-based research can be made sensitive to the needs of the policymaker. It also offered them the opportunity to expand their professional networks by connecting with global experts in the field. We are excited about the valuable knowledge they are gaining, and we look forward to sharing more updates on their progress and future projects.

Exciting News! Our five-day training on Evaluating Social Programs, focused on enhancing evidence-based policy decisions, was featured in the news. Watch the video to learn more! J-PAL Africa Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) GIMPA Training and Consulting