Dr. Eric Ekobor-Ackah Mochiah

Development Economist and Lecturer, Department of Economics, GCTU Business School

  • Profile

    Dr. Eric Ekobor-Ackah Mochiah is a Development Economist and a Lecturer at Ghana Communication Technology University. His research focuses on Financial Technology (FinTech) ecosystem especially on Mobile Money technology in Ghana and Africa. He was a Fox International Fellow at Yale University and a PhD Fellow with UNU-WIDER at Helsinki, Finland. Eric has lectured in Economics since 2011.

    He is a former employee of Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and has worked on multiple economic surveys and interventions including MCC-MiDA Interventions, Ghana Social Opportunities Project, LEAP project, World Bank Land Titling project, etc. He has consulted for and assisted various institutions (World Bank, AGRA, MDF West Africa, EMOS consultancy, Ernst and Young, etc.) which work directly with local government on national and transnational projects.

    He is currently working on a study titled Mobile Money Agent Network Expansion and Productivity with a grant of about US$50,000. He is on the side, an astute businessman in the transport industry (Car Rental Agency) with over 12 years of experience.

  • Publications

    No. PUBLICATION
    1 (2024) “Does Mobile Money impacts Profits of Non-farm businesses in Ghana?” Up and coming paper
    2 (2024) “Is the Determinants of Savings a Poverty Issue? An Unconditional Quantile Regression Analysis”. Up and coming paper
    3 (2024) “Demand for Textiles in Ghana: The Choice between Imitated and Original by the Consumer” Up and coming paper
    4 (2022) PhD Thesis: “Mobile Money Technology in Ghana: Empirical Analyses on Savings, Security and Volume of Transactions”.
    5 (2021) “Sustainable Waste Management Practices in a Higher Education Institution of Ghana” Published in 2021, International Conference on Computing, Computational Modelling and Applications (ICCMA)
    6 (2020) “Hope for Africa During Covid-19 Pandemic”, published in Yale Global Online on June 4, 2020
    7 (2014) “Deciding to urban-migrate: Evidence from the MiDA Intervention zones”, Published in December, 2014, with Isaac Osei-Akoto and R.D. Osei.
    8 (2014) “Impact of Cash Transfer programmes on Household’s work decisions (Labour supply)”, Published in September, 2014 (UNU-WIDER Working Paper), with Isaac Osei-Akoto and R.D. Osei
    9 (2014) “A Survey of the Bread Basket Region of Burkina Faso”, Final report submitted to Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) as part of a baseline survey of the bread basket regions, with Robert Darko Osei, Isaac Osei-Akoto, Thomas Ansre, and Richard Frempong
    10 2014) “A Survey of the Bread Basket Region of Ghana”, Final report submitted to Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) as part of a baseline survey of the bread basket regions, with Robert Darko Osei, Isaac Osei-Akoto, Thomas Ansre, and Richard Frempong
    11 (2013) “Managing the Macroeconomy in an Oil Rich Country: The Case of Ghana”, Published in August, 2013 (Policy Brief), with Charles Ackah, Robert Osei, Oliver Morrissey
    12 (2013) “Ghana’s Non-traditional Agricultural Exports Sector: The role of policy, institutions and markets”, A policy brief, with F. Asante, G. Owusu and R.D. Osei
    13 i) Edjah, F. Awunyo-Vitor, D. and Oduro-Gyimah, F. K. (2024). Appraising Public Adherence to Government’s Policy on Covid-19 Safety Protocols in Selected Institutions of Higher Learning in Ghana. IJEASA, https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEASA.2024.137217.
    14 (2012) “An Impact Evaluation of the MiDA FBO Training” Final Report submitted to MiDA as part of the Evaluation of the MCA-Ghana Programme, with Isaac Osei-Akoto, Hayford Ayerakwa, R.D. Osei, Wilson Appiah-Kubi and Sylvia Senu
    15 (2011) “The Impact of Training on Credit Accessbility to Farmers”, ISSER Technical Publication, with R. Atta-Ankomah, R.D. Osei, I. Osei-Akoto, & S. Senu.
    16 (2008) “The Choice of a Mobile phone network in Ghana”, Mphil thesis
    17 (2005) “The Cost and Benefit Analysis of the Rawlings Park in Accra, Ghana”, Bachelor’s Degree Dissertation with B. P. Yeboah

  • Qualifications (Education)

    DATE DEGREE/QUALIFICATION INSTITUTION
    July, 2021 Doctor of Philosophy in Development Economics University of Ghana, Legon
    2018 (PhD Fellow at Yale University, USA in 2019/2020 as well as UNU-WIDER PhD fellow, Finland in 2018) Yale University, USA
    2008 Master of Philosophy Degree in Economics / Collaborative Masters Programme (CMAP) in Kenya with Industrial and Agricultural Economics as elective (2007). University of Cape Coast
    2005 Bachelor of Arts: Economics University of Ghana, Legon

  • Professional Training

  • Positions Held/Served

    GCTU Academic Board Member- Economics Department Rep since 2023.
    Board Member- Eminence Lead International-February 2024 to date
    Lead Principal Investigator on ISSER/ReFinD Grant Award Project/Survey on “Mobile Money Agent Network Expansion and Productivity” from July 1 2024 to June 30, 2025
    Consulted for EMOS Consultancy with partners from Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development (MLGDRD) on Conduct beneficiary Satisfaction Survey for Ghana Secondary Cities Support Program (GSCSP Beneficiary Satisfaction Survey/Project) (August 2024- October 2024)
    Consulted for EMOS Consultancy with partners from GESTIP/Energy Commission/Ministry of Energy on Ghana Clean Cooking Strategy with Investment Prospectus Project (September 2020- September 2022)
    Consulted for EMOS Consultancy with partners from GESTIP/Ministry of Energy on Review of Price Build-up of Petroleum Products and the Development of Financial Models to determine Margins in the price build-up of LPG for Cylinder Recirculation Model (September 2020- September 2022)
    Consultant for Ernst and Young Advisory Services in conducting a Market survey of small holder farmers and farmer service centers in selected areas with maize, rice and soya bean as major crops in Ghana (June-August, 2018)
    Consultant for EMOS Consultancy on Local Government Capacity Support Project Beneficiary Assessment (March, 2018)
    Consultant for MDF West Africa Limited in conducting an In- Depth Studies and Analysis on the Market Access Program theory of change interventions in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania for Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)-(2014/2015)
    Team Member for AGRA Bread basket project for Northern Ghana and Burkina Faso (2013/2014)
    Consultant on Assessing PPP Options to improve the Provision of Public Toilets in Kumasi organized by Ernst and Young Advisory Services (2013/2014)
    Team Member for Food and Agriculture Organization SO3 PRI Diagnostics Research (2013/2014)
    Team Member of EMOS consultancy on Ghana Energy Development and Access Project (GEDAP III)-2013
    Research Assistant for Economic and Financial Team members of Compact II of Millennium Development Authority (2012)
    Consultant (Project analyst) for Africa Schools Ghana Program Evaluation under Ernst and Young Advisory Limited (2012)
    Team Member for Ghana School Feeding Program Evaluation under Ernst and Young Advisory Limited (2012)
    Team Member for Consultancy services rendered to MTN and Fanmilk (2012) on the state of the Ghanaian economy and forecast for 2013.
    Project Research Assistant (MiDA project) at Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of University of Ghana (September, 2010 to September, 2013).
    Enumerator: Worked under Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research (ISSER) for a World Bank Survey on Impacts and Prospects of Asian Companies in Ghana (2006).
    Enumerator: Worked under Center for Policy Analysis (CEPA) in a survey on Exchange rate regimes and Impact on Doing Business in Ghana (2006).

  • Areas of Expertise/Research

    Financial Technology (FinTech) especially Mobile Money
    Agricultural Productivity
    Migration
    Household Dynamics
    Poverty and Inequality
    Microanalysis of Developmental issues in Developing worlds

  • Conference/Seminars/Workshops

    2023 Yale University Fox Fellowship Reunion Conference at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA in May 2023
    Yale University Economics Department/Council on African Studies/Fox International Fellowship seminar series (August, 2019-2022)
    University of Lincoln International Business School, UK- Development Economics Conference (June, 2019)
    GTUC Research workshop- Facilitator/Speaker (May, 2019)
    United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research Seminar Series (September to November, 2018)
    UNU-WIDER Conference on Think Development-Think WIDER, Helsinki Finland (September 13-15, 2018)
    ISSER, ICED, and others: International Conference on “Bridging the gap: strengthening connections between research and policy in Sub-Saharan Africa” in Nairobi, Kenya (26th and 27th July 2018).
    Pan-African Doctoral Academy (PADA): Qualitative Research Methodology and Use of NVIVO (22nd-26th January, 2018)
    Pan-African Doctoral Academy (PADA): Managing the Doctoral Process including Managing the Literature Review (15th-19th January, 2018)
    UNU-WIDER Conference on Migration and Mobility, Ghana (September, 2017)
    AGRA’s East and Southern Africa Grantee’ Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya (October, 2015)
    University of Ghana Faculty of Social Sciences 6th Annual Colloquium: “The Social Sciences and the Development Discourse” (21st-22nd March, 2013)
    UNU-WIDER Conference on ‘Inclusive Growth in Africa: Measurement, Causes, and Consequences’ in Helsinki, Finland (September, 2013)
    Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Golden Jubilee Conference, Accra, Ghana (7th -11th May, 2012)
    University of Education, Winneba’s 2nd International Social Science Conference (March, 2012)
    University of Ghana International Education Fair and Home-coming-Faculty of Social Science Colloquium (November, 2011)

  • Honours/Awards

    A $50,000 ReFinD/ISSER grant awarded for the pilot project on “Mobile Money Agent Network Expansion and Productivity” from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
    Yale University Fox International Fellowship-PhD fellow with the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University, USA (August, 2019-2020)
    UNU-WIDER PhD Internship programme in Helsinki, Finland (September to November, 2018)