Political science collaborators awarded 120k grant to study gender inequity in West Africa

Political science faculty members Kelly Ann Krawczyk and Hayford Nsiah, and doctoral student Brian Ezeonu, have been awarded a one-year, $120,000 grant from the Anti-Corruption Evidence, or ACE, Research Consortium and SOAS, or School of Oriental and African Studies, at the University of London. Their project, “Lending Corruption and Bank Loan Contracting: Implications for Gender Inequity and Inclusive Growth in West Africa,” will explore the effects of lending corruption on female entrepreneurs in small and mid-sized enterprises, or SMSEs, in order to identify and recommend innovative new strategies and interventions for curbing this corruption.

The study by Krawczyk, Nsiah and Ezeonu investigates the gender dynamics of private corruption in the banking sector by examining access to credit for female entrepreneurs in SMSEs in Ghana and Nigeria. They will engage in original field research and collect survey and interview data from over 240 women-led SMSEs, bank executives and key informants in three commercial states of Nigeria-- Lagos, Abia and Jos-- and three regions of Ghana--Greater Accra, Ashanti and the Northern Region. Krawczyk, Nsiah and Ezenou will partner with the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, or CDD-Ghana, and Connected Development, or CODE, in Nigeria in order to implement the project.

Krawczyk is an associate professor and the doctorate program director in the Department of Political Science, as well as a Democracy and Development Fellow at CDD-Ghana. Her research focuses on democracy, governance and civil society in West Africa, including anti-corruption strategies, accountability and civic engagement. Nsiah is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science. His research focuses on public management and governance in developing countries including public financing and economic growth, civic engagement, anti-corruption strategies and sustainable development policy. Brian Ezeonu is a doctoral student in the joint doctorate program in public administration and public policy, with a focus on the third sector and applied research.

For CDD-Ghana's website, go to https://www.cddgh.org/.

For CODE's website, go to https://www.connecteddevelopment.org/.