Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, African Development Bank
Professor Kevin Chika Urama is a passionate and results-oriented Economist with over 30 years of Africa-wide and global experience in economic policy and knowledge management. He is currently Chief Economist/Vice President for the Economic Governance & Knowledge Management Complex of the African Development Bank Group. Professor Urama previously served at the Bank as a Senior Director for the African Development Institute and as Senior Advisor to the President of the African Development Bank Group on Inclusive and Green Growth Strategy, Policy Development, and Implementation.
A globally recognized Development Economist, Professor Urama is an elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS); a Distinguished Professor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka; an Adjunct Professor at the Sir Walter Murdoch School of Public Policy and International Affairs, Murdoch University, Western Australia; and an honorary Professor of Practice at the University College London. He was an Extra-Ordinary Professor in the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and a Visiting Professor at the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy, University College London. He is currently a member of the Global Council on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); a Commissioner for the Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance; a member of Advisory Committee of the Alliance for Modernizing African Agrifood Systems (AMAA) - a global effort of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE); a member of the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Advisory Board of the Climate-Compatible Growth Program (CCG); a CAREED Fellow at the University of Western Scotland – awarded for services to Scholarly activity in relation to economic development of Africa; member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on the future of clean air, among others.
Before joining the African Development Bank Group, Prof. Urama served in various executive leadership positions in academia, international organizations, and the private sector. He was the inaugural Managing Director of the Quantum Global Research Lab established in Zug, Switzerland; Executive Director of the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) established in Nairobi Kenya; Director of Research and Training of the ATPS; Senior Research Fellow at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute established in Aberdeen, United Kingdom; Deputy Chairman of the OMFIF Economists Network, inaugural President of the African Society for Ecological Economics (ASEE), and Lecturer at the University of Nigeria. Prof. Urama started his career in Commercial Banking where he completed his National Youth Service at the Orient Bank Nigeria Limited, Anambra State.
Prof. Urama has served on various Boards and Advisory Committees of international organizations and global research programs to deliver inclusive green growth and sustainable development. These include the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC); Green Growth Best Practice (GGBP); the International Resource Panel (IRP); the OECD Green Growth and Poverty Reduction Task Team; the UNESCO Governing Board of the International Research and Training Centre for Science and Technology Strategy (CISTRAT), Beijing, China, and the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) Advisory Committee, amongst others. He serves on several expert panels advising Leaders in the public and private sectors in Africa and globally.
Professor Urama holds a Ph.D. in Land Economy from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; an MPhil in Land Economy from Cambridge University; a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from University of Nigeria, and a First-Class Honors bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nigeria. He won several prizes as the best graduating student in Agricultural Economics at the University of Nigeria at bachelor’s and master’s degree levels; won the 2003 James Claydon Prize for the best thesis in economics or related subjects, St. Edmond’s College, Cambridge University; and was named the Technology Executive of the Year 2012 by the Africa Technology Awards. Prof. Urama has received several Prizes and Awards for his contributions to science and excellence in leadership and community development. He was conferred a Chieftaincy Title in Essodo community of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, Enugu State in 2001.
