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MDI-Ghana Faculty Bios
Dr. Andah is an experienced banker with agricultural background. For 25 years, he worked with banks handling for the most part rural and micro finance schedules. He has handled Credit Guarantee Schemes at the banks. He has been used by the World Bank as resource person on regulation of micro finance institutions. Retired as the Director of Non-Bank Financial Institutions Department of the Bank of Ghana. He is now consulting in rural and micro finance.
Prof. Ernest Aryeetey
Professor Ernest Aryeetey is the Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, Legon. He studied Economics at the University of Ghana and obtained a doctorate at the University of Dortmund, Germany in 1985. Ernest Aryeetey'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. Ernest Aryeetey is a member of the Board of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (Helsinki) and also of the Board of the Global Development Network (New Delhi). He is a Member of the UNDP Advisory Group (New York) and sits on the Programme Committee of the African Economic Research Consortium (Nairobi).
Mr. Jeffrey Ashe – Oxfam America
Prior to coming to Oxfam, Mr. Ashe founded Working Capital and served as its Executive Director. Working Capital was for several years the largest microfinance program in the United States and franchised its model in eight states and Russia. Working Capital received the first Presidential Award for Excellence for microfinance at a celebration at the White House.
Before starting Working Capital, Mr. Ashe was Director of the "PISCES Project," the first worldwide investigation of programs reaching the smallest economic activities of the poor. PISCES laid the groundwork for the best practice work that has followed over the past two decades. As Senior Associate Director at ACCION International, he assisted in the dissemination of peer group lending throughout Latin America. After he left ACCION, Mr. Ashe designed, assisted and evaluated microfinance programs in thirty-five countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Mr. Ashe has published extensively in the micro-enterprise field and is the author of several books and articles on the topic. He holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkley, and an MA in Sociology from Boston University.
Prof. Kofi Awusabo-Asare - University of Cape Coast
Kofi Awusabo-Asare is a professor in population studies at the University of Cape Coast, where he has taught since 1980. His research interests are in adolescent reproductive health, social dimensions of HIV/AIDS infection, poverty studies, and issues of population, environment and health. His current research activities are in the adolescent reproductive health with the Guttmacher Institute of New York, population, urbanization and health along the coastal belt of the Central region of Ghana with Brown University and aspects of the feminization of poverty in Ghana with Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has participated in the Agenda to Improve the Implementation of Population programmes and the utilization of research in policy dialogue about young people in Ghana. He has authored a number of publications based on his areas of research. He served as Head of the Department of Geography and Tourism (1998-2004) and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (2000-2006) of the University of Cape Coast. He is currently a member of the International AIDS Society (IAS), the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), the Ghana Geographical Association and the Union of African Population Studies (UAPS). He has served on a number of committees and commissions, including the IUSSP Committee of HIV/AIDS, the President’s Commission on the Review of Education in Ghana, a member of the Research and Monitoring Committee of the Ghana AIDS Commission and Co-chair of the World Health Organization’s Panel on the Social Science Research on Health. He has a B. A. from the University of Cape Coast, M. A. (Demography) from the Australian National University and a Ph. D. from the University of Liverpool (UK).
Ms. Linda Jones - Technical Consultant
Linda Jones is an independent consultant who specializes in capacity building and pro-poor development of enterprises, value chains and subsectors / industries. Linda’s technical expertise is in: private sector development; program strategy, design and planning; subsector and value chain analysis; programming for marginalized populations including low-income women; and the development and implementation of tools and techniques for effective market research and analysis. Jones was previously Technical Director for MEDA, an International NGO, where she was responsible for new program development, industry trends, technical advice on program design and implementation, and training. Jones is the Pro-Poor Enterprise Development track coordinator for the Microenterprise Development Institute at Southern New Hampshire University, a member of the Editorial Board of the Enterprise Development and Microfinance Journal (formerly SED), the past Chair of the Board of Directors of the SEEP Network, and a regular contributor to conferences, seminars and workshops. Jones holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology, managed a university research centre, and was a successful entrepreneur for over ten years. Email: psdjones@gmail.com
Ms. Rose Mwaniki - BDS Consultant
Ms. Mwaniki is a microfinance and enterprise development specialist with more than 15 years of hands on experience in the management/provision of both business development and micro finance services. She has 13 years of managing of profitable microfinance operations serving several job titles including microfinance officer, branch operations manager and Head of Microfinance operations with K-Rep. Rose was the first Chief Manager -Credit with K-Rep Bank, a specialized microfinance bank in Kenya that transformed from a Non-Governmental Organization. For the last two years Ms. Mwaniki has designed, implemented and is currently managing a market linkage Business Development Services Project for avocado small-holder farmers on behalf of Kenya BDS, a Program of USAID. Kenya BDS's primary interest in this project is to act as a catalyst, linking the smallholder avocado producer to the export market through the facilitation and capacity building of viable producer groups. Ms. Mwaniki's specific role in the project is consequently to mobilize, organize, train and manage interested farmers into viable enterprise groups and then link them to two leading exporters. Ms. Mwaniki also has proven experience in undertaking consultancy assignments mainly in the areas of institutional assessment, product development, design and delivery of specialised training programs for operations and management level staff of institutions engaged in the provision of financial and advisory services to the informal sector.
Dr. Martin O’Reilly - Uganda Martyrs University
Dr. O'Reilly is currently associate professor at Uganda Martyrs University, Uganda. He has worked in Africa for 24 years and was formerly on the staff of St. Paul’s University, Liberia and the Catholic University of East Africa, Kenya. For the past six years he has been director of the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies, Uganda Martyrs University, with special responsibility for developing their current associate degree programme in microfinance and community economic development. In addition to his university teaching, he has worked extensively with microfinance institutions in Uganda and elsewhere - in assisting them to broaden their understanding of their social mission, as well as their ability to respond adeptly to the changing landscape of the demand for credit. He is the editor of the forthcoming book ‘Rural Microfinancing’, to be published by Marianum Press, Uganda, later this year.
Ms. Aba Amissah Quainoo
Ms. Quainoo is a Development Economist and Sociologist who has specialised in Rural Development, Private Sector Development, Financial Management, Entrepreneurship Development, Gender and Development Issues, Micro-Finance Delivery Mechanisms and micro-finance institutional development with over twelve years experience in working and rendering professional services in that field.
For five years, she designed and managed an innovative savings and credit facility targeted primarily at women, as part of the Women’s World Banking network in Ghana. Ms. Quainoo has also designed a micro-leasing scheme targeted at micro and small-scale enterprises for LEASAFRIC Ghana Limited, the largest Leasing Company in Ghana.
She was the lead consultant for the design of a national strategic framework for the microfinance sector in Ghana. Ms Quainoo was the lead consultant for the design of a microfinance fund to be accessed by Microfinance Institutions in Ghana (MFIs). The fund has a technical assistance window for the MFIs. Ms. Quainoo has provided professional services in economic policy review, research, monitoring, evaluation of developmental programmes and training services for a variety of clients including the World Bank, the European Union (EU), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
Mr. Paul Rippey Paul Rippey is a microfinance specialist and climate change activist with twenty years of experience in Africa. He has managed microfinance institutions in Burkina Faso and Guinea (Conakry) and is the co-founder of Association Al Amana in Morocco, which over ten years became the largest MFI in North Africa, with a portfolio of $230,000,000 and 400,000 customers.
From 2002 to 2007, he managed DFID's Financial Sector Deepening Project in Uganda, rolling out programs of consumer education, savings-led informal groups, a "consolidation challenge fund", an "LED Challenge", and massive demand and supply side studies.
In January 2007, he was trained by former US Vice President Al Gore to lead the climate change presentation at the heart of the film, An Inconvenient Truth, and has delivered the presentation thirty times in five countries in Africa and North America. He now manages ACCION's Energy Links Project, working to bring clean energy products to poor people in Africa and elsewhere.
Recent publications include Preliminary Thoughts on the Implications of Global Climate Change for Microfinance, written with Elisabeth Rhyne, that appeared in The MicroBanking Bulletin, and a chapter of What's Wrong with Microfinance, edited by Thomas Dichter and Malcolm Harper.
Ms. Alexandra Snelgrove - MEDA
Alexandra joined MEDA’s Production and Marketing Linkages Group in 2004. In her current capacity as Senior Consultant/Project Manager, she contributes to projects focussed on enterprise development, sub-sector analysis, and value chain enhancement including a fruit and vegetable subsector development program in Ethiopia and Zambia and a project linking homebound rural embroiderers into higher value markets in Pakistan. Alex also manages a project centered on technology dissemination for horticulture producers in Ethiopia and Zambia. Alex frequently consults with other organizations and institutions in the areas of private sector development, value chain and sub-sector analysis, and program design and development. Before joining MEDA, Alexandra completed her Masters in Economic Development at Columbia University in New York City. Alexandra’s previous consulting experience includes analysis of the vegetable subsector and initial needs assessment in Cambodia, participation on a research team analyzing global cashew consumption and possible marketing strategies for cashew processors, and strategic planning for a start-up microenterprise development organization. Prior to entering the international development field, Alex worked in trade promotion in Malaysia in both the private and public sectors.
Mr. Michael Spingler - USAID Egypt Microenterprise Finance project
Michael Spingler is the Senior Institutional Development Specialist for the USAID Egypt Microenterprise Finance project. The project, which he joined in December, 2006, supports 11 NGO and bank MFI partners with an outreach of over 600,000 clients in their technical assistance and training needs. These include governance, strategic and business planning, human resource management, product development, marketing, accounting, and financial and information systems.
Prior to this position, Mr Spingler spent three and a half years as the Director for the Catholic Relief Services Southeast Asia LINKS Learning Center for Microfinance in the Philippines. This program used a comprehensive, partnership-based approach for capacity building and institutional learning for policy, procedure and system development in governance, management, and operations within its 50 MFI partner and affiliated organizations.
Mr. Spingler was the Chief Operating Officer of Thaneakea Phum Cambodia, a wholly owned limited liability company of Catholic Relief Services in Cambodia serving over 50,000 clients through a ten branch network. Over the course of the seven years he worked in Cambodia, Mr. Spingler assisted in the planning and management of TPC’s client and human resource growth, and its transformation into a licensed MFI.
Prior to CRS, he worked with the Credit Union Association of Ghana for two years as a trainer and technical advisor. Mr. Spingler has a master's degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University.
Prof. William Steel
William F. Steel retired in 2005 as Senior Adviser in the Africa Region Private Sector Group of the World Bank, where he worked since 1983, specializing in small enterprise development and microfinance. He is currently based in Accra, Ghana, teaching Economics of Microfinance at the University of Ghana and consulting for the World Bank, GTZ, and others. He co-authored the World Bank’s “Framework for the Development of Micro, Small Enterprise and Rural Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa” and “Rural Financial Services: Implementing the Bank’s Strategy to Reach the Rural Poor,” as well as studies of microfinance regulation in four African countries. He is part of World Bank/IFAD teams working on Rural Financial Services projects in Ghana and Uganda.
As Co-Chair of the Committee of Donor Agencies for Small Enterprise Development (1991-2004), he led the development of Guiding Principles for donor support both for microfinance (1995) and for business development services (2001). He is one of the founders and a member of the Steering Committee of the international network on Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). He has published numerous studies, articles and books on small enterprise development, informal financial markets, microfinance regulation, employment of women, and industrial adjustment. He previously taught economics at Vanderbilt University and the University of Ghana, and he has served as an Advisor in the African Development Bank and the Indonesia National Planning Agency.