Ernest Aryeetey

Prof. Ernest Aryeetey was appointed as the new African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Board Chair on 1 April 2021.

Prof. Aryeetey is currently the Secretary-General of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana. One of his strategic priorities as Vice-Chancellor was to develop the university into a research-intensive institution that supports structural transformation in Ghana and Africa.

Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor, he was a Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. He was also Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, Legon, for the period February 2003 – January 2010.

Prof. Aryeetey has been associated with the AERC since its inception in 1988 and has served in various capacities: as a Resource Person, member of the AERC Programme Committee (2005-2009), thought leader, presenter, and discussant of policy papers at AERC flagship events, and recently as a “Director at Large” on the AERC Board. Prof. Aryeetey, jointly with Prof. Frances Stewart, carried out the evaluation of the AERC Strategic Plan 2015-2020, whose recommendations informed the strategic directions for the AERC over the period 2020-2025.

Ernest was the chairman of the Board of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UN-WIDER), Helsinki (2009-2015). In April 2016, he was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Director-General Irina Bokova of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to the governing council of the United Nations University. In addition, he served as a Member of the Board of the Global Development Network (GDN) (2004-2009) and remains a member of the Governing Board of the Centre for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn, Germany. Until April 2019, he was the Board Chair of Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Ernest’s research work focuses on the economics of development with interest in institutions and their role in development, regional integration, economic reforms, financial systems in support of development and small enterprise development. He is well known for his work on informal finance and microfinance in Africa and has consulted for various international agencies on several development and political economy subjects.

Professor Aryeetey studied Economics at University of Ghana and then undertook graduate studies at the Universitaet Dortmund, Germany completing his PhD in 1985. In July 2017, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Sussex, UK, for his contribution to the study of African economies and higher education transformation in Africa.