DSEP
Faculty profile

Prof. Emmanuel Ekow Asmah

Associate Professor of Economics; Vice Dean, School of Economics

Prof. Emmanuel Ekow Asmah brings more than thirty years of academic experience, an extensive international research and consulting portfolio, and a distinguished record of institutional leadership. He served as Head of the Department of Data Science and Economic Policy from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026 and continues to serve the Department as Academic Advisor.

He was the inaugural Dean of the School of Economics from 2018 to 2022, overseeing its establishment as the first dedicated School of Economics within a public university in Ghana. During this period he supervised the development of seven new academic programmes, initiated the School of Economics Development Fund, and secured the infrastructure and resources necessary for the School's growth. He previously served as Head of the Department of Economics from 2016 to 2018.

His research spans development economics, health economics, public sector economics, food security, nutrition and CGE-based policy modelling. He has led and contributed to numerous externally funded research projects, including the EcoGIV Project (2021–2026) on ecosystem-based management for coastal resources in Ghana, Indonesia and Vietnam, funded by NORAD; the There is HOPE Project on self-sampling for cervical cancer prevention among women living with HIV in Ghana, funded by the US National Institutes of Health in collaboration with Baylor University; PASHFARM, on food price volatility, affordability and inequalities in nutritious diets in Ghana, funded by the AERC; a study on reducing child malnutrition through mothers' birth spacing in Ghana, funded by USAID through the DHS Program; a cost–benefit analysis of community worker-led screening and treatment for hypertension in Ghana, funded by the Copenhagen Consensus Center; and work on policy stringency, handwashing and COVID-19 cases supported by AAUN PRDF and the University of Newcastle.

Beyond the University, Prof. Asmah has served as a Research Fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, as an Intern Macroeconomist at the World Bank, and as a Visiting Scholar at the IMF in Washington D.C., at the African Economic Research Consortium in Kenya, and at Northeastern University in Boston. He has consulted for the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, the Copenhagen Consensus Center, and Solidaridad West Africa.

Selected courses taught

  • Research Methods
  • Health Economics (UCC and AERC)
  • Managerial Economics
  • Public Sector Economics
  • Development Finance

Selected recent publications

Ten most recent, drawn from Google Scholar.

  1. Home-based self-sampling for cervical cancer prevention education among women living with HIV in Ghana (HOPE-inG): Study protocol for a cluster-randomized type 2 hybrid trial

    BMC Public Health · 2026

  2. Data analytics capabilities and organisational performance at an emerging economy's local government assembly: The roles of top-management support and data-driven decision making

    2026

  3. Health shocks and multidimensional poverty: Is health insurance a safety net?

    International Journal of Health Economics and Management · 2026

  4. At the edge of the sea: Coastal erosion, asset loss, and management challenges — evidence from selected coastal communities in Ghana, West Africa

    Coastal Management · 2026

  5. HPV self-sampling for cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in Ghana: Protocol for a hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation randomized controlled trial

    Trials · 2025

  6. Navigating food price volatility: Gendered consumption patterns and coping strategies of households in Ghana

    VeriXiv · 2025

  7. Food price volatility and accessibility to healthy diets in Ghana

    VeriXiv · 2025

  8. Household debt servicing and multidimensional poverty in Ghana

    International Economic Journal · 2025

  9. Artisanal and small-scale mining, institutional arrangements and vulnerability of cocoa farmers in the Wassa Amenfi East and West Districts, Ghana

    Resources Policy · 2025

  10. Addressing the gendered impacts of food price volatility in Ghana: Policy options for nutrition and food security

    AERC · 2025

Complete profile on Google Scholar →