Officers of the Institute

    sbonsu@gimpa.edu.gh
Samuel (Sammy) Kwaku Bonsu is a Professor of Marketing and Consumption Studies at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He holds a PhD from the University of Rhode Island. He studied and worked at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada and later joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Prior to joining GIMPA, he was a tenured Associate Professor of Marketing at the prestigious Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto. Prof. Bonsu has taught at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. He was recognized as one of the best teachers at SFU (Teaching Honour Roll) and nominated a few times for the Schulich Teaching Excellence Award).

Prof. Bonsu is an astute entrepreneur with business interests in several countries. He is also an accomplished scholar of global renown. His works have appeared in some of the most prestigious journals in consumer research and have been reproduced in key compendia for doctoral studies in consumer culture theory. He is the past President of the International Society for Markets and Development (ISMD), a society that brings together scholars and practitioners of responsible development. He serves on the editorial review boards of several journals as well as the governing boards of several entities in Ghana and abroad. He is a sought-after global speaker on “Responsible Business” in African development.

Areas of Research Interest
• Consumer Cultures
• African Development
• Responsible Business
• Base of the Pyramid Strategies
• Informal Markets

Current Research Grants
2018 – 2022 DANIDA Fellowship Centre International Partnership Grant (FFU)
Research Grant (Danish Kroner 9,300,000; approximately US$1.4 million) with GIMPA colleagues (Alex Ansong, Victor Brobbey, Diana Asonaba Dapaah) in partnership with the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) and other institutions in Kenya and Australia.
Topic: Responsible Business and Human Rights: Achieving the SDGs

2018-2019 Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) Research Grant (US$10,000), with GIMPA colleagues Kenneth Ofori Boateng and Raymond Babanawo.
Topic: Higher Education Leadership in Africa,

Selected Journal Articles
Bonsu, Samuel K (2019), Consumer Culture in Africa: An Ethnographic Journey into Asante Death Rituals, SAGE Research Methods.

Bonsu, Samuel K and Pia E. Polsa (2011), “Governmentality at the Base-of-the-Pyramid”, Journal of Macromarketing 31(3) 236-

Bonsu, Samuel K. and Russell W. Belk (2010) Marketing a New African God: Religion and Material Salvation in Ghana, International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 15, 4(Nov), 305-323

Bonsu, Samuel K (2009), Colonial Images in Global Times: Consumer Interpretations of Africa and Africans in Advertising, Consumption, Markets &Culture, 12, 1(March), 1-25.

Bonsu, Samuel K. and Benét DeBerry-Spence (2008), “Consuming the Dead: Identity Community Building Practices in Death Rituals,” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 37, 6(Dec), 694-719

Zwick, Detlev, Bonsu, Samuel K., and Aron Darmody (2008), “Putting Consumers to Work: ‘Co-creation’ and New Marketing Govern-mentality,” Journal of Consumer Culture, 8(2), 163-192.

Bonsu, Samuel K., and Belk, Russell W.(2003), “Do Not Go Gently into That Good Night: Death Ritual Consumption in Asante, Ghana,” Journal of Consumer Research, 30(June), 41-55

Selected Books/Book Chapters
Bonsu, Samuel K. (2019), “Mother, Here is Your Stone: Globalization and Susu in Ghana”. in Solidarity Banking & Invincible Women: Understanding the Worldwide Phenomenon of ROSCAs, Hossein, Caroline S. (ed.), Oxford University Press

Bonsu, Samuel K. (2019), “Development by Markets: Continuities in Racism and Colonialism in Africa”, in Race in the Marketplace – Crossing Critical Boundaries, Johnson, Guillaume D., Thomas, Kevin D., Grier, Sonya A and Harrison, Anthony Kwame (Eds), Palgrave Macmillan

Bonsu, Samuel K. (2014), “Governing the Global Periphery: Socio-Economic Development in Service of the Global Core”, in Core-Periphery Relations and Organisation Studies, Robert Westwood, Gavin Jack, Farzad Rafi Khan and Michal Frenkel (Ed),. Palgrave Macmillan

Bonsu, Samuel K.(2014), (Editor) Legends in Consumer Behavior: Russell W. Belk: Globalism and Consumption, Volume 6. Sage.

Godefroit-Winkel, Delphine and Bonsu, Samuel K. (2014), “Repenser les Stratégies Globales dans une Perspective Culturelle” in Repenser le Commerce, Vers une Perspective Socio-Culturelle de la Distribution., Isabelle Collin-Lachaud Ed., Editions EMS [978-2847696295]

Bonsu, Sammy K. (2013), “Value Co-creation in Virtual Environments,” in Routledge Companion to Digital Consumption, Russell W. Belk and Rosa Llamas(Ed.), New York: Routledge, 251-260

Bonsu, Samuel K. (1996), “The Human Factor in Marketing and Development” in Human Factor Engineering and the Political Economy of African Development, Adjibolosoo, S (ed.), Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 141-170.

    mtuuli@gimpa.edu.gh

    famiyehs@gimpa.edu.gh

vkunbour_gls@gimpa.edu.gh

Dr. Augustina Akonnor is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (SOLASS) at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, GIMPA. She is also the Head of Department of Liberal Arts at the School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (SOLASS). She holds a PhD in Educational Studies, Ohio University, USA (2008), MPA, Ohio University, USA (2005), Master of Arts in International Affairs, Ohio University (2003) and BA (Hons) Secretaryship University of Cape-Coast (1998)

Area of Specialization:
Gender and Public Administration, Gender and Development, Development Management and Administration, Governance and Development of Extractive Industries

Prof. Wisdom Akpalu attended Anloga Secondary School for his Ordinary Level Certificate and Presbyterian Boys Secondary Schools, Legon, for his Advanced Level Certificate. He then proceeded to University of Cape Coast (UCC) where he graduated with a BA (Hons) Economics degree and a Diploma in Education. He was retained as a Teaching Assistant and awarded a scholarship by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) for an MSc Economics degree at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. The program was taught by the Center for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at Oxford University. Upon graduation, he was hired by UCC as a lecturer. After teaching for 4 years, he becomes one of 5 candidates selected globally in 2001 to benefit from the prestigious Swedish Sida scholarship for a PhD degree in Economics at University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He successfully completed the program and obtained a PhD as well as Licentiate of Philosophy degrees in Economics. The Center for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA) in Pretoria, South Africa hired him as a research fellow soon after he graduated. He left for the USA a year later and was hired by the State University of New York (SUNY) – Farmingdale, New York, where he was promoted to Associate Professor of Economics in 2012 and was the Chair of the Department of Economics. While at SUNY, Prof. Akpalu was offered an opportunity by United Nations University (UNU) to return to Ghana and manage a PhD program in Development Economics at the University of Ghana. The program currently has over 30 students and has graduated 3 of them.
Prof. Akpalu is a gifted teacher and internationally recognized scholar in the field of environment and natural resource economics, and social economics. He has taught, supervised, and examined several undergraduate and graduate students globally. Since 2013, he was invited by the AERC and CEEPA as a resource person to mentor researchers on the continent. Regarding research, Prof. Akpalu has published several articles in reputable journals and has presented his works at major international conferences. The North American Association of Fisheries Economists (NAAFE) invited him as a keynote speaker at the 2019 forum in Canada. In 2015, the Academy of Economics and Finance (AEF) recognized his extraordinary achievements in research and awarded him the Research Fellow of the year. Moreover, Prof. Akpalu has consulted for many international organizations including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), International Labor Organization (ILO), The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), etc. He is the current president of the African Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AFAERE).

akagbeh@gimpa.edu.gh

gappoh@gimpa.edu.gh

Mr Solomon Asante Dartey is an IT specialist and consultant with over 20 years of experience in IT related engagements. Solomon holds a Master degree in Software Systems Technology from the University of Sheffield, UK and has been certified by the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA), USA in the management of Business Incubation programmes and Technology parks. He is also certified in various Microsoft and other enterprise solutions including SunSystems, Vision, Citrix and Oracle.

Solomon was the Deputy Chief Information Technology Officer (IT Services) of the University of Ghana between 2014 and 2018. He was in charge of all software systems and services of the university, ensuring excellence in the delivery of IT services and solutions across all campuses of the university.

Prior to taking this appointment, Solomon worked for nine (9) years with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as programme coordinator for their ICT Entrepreneurship initiative under the government’s ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Programme. He was Director for the Ghana Multimedia Incubator Center (GMIC), a technology business incubator of the Ministry of Communications, Ghana in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Here he led the setup of the first government ICT business incubator that focuses on the identification of innovative ICT ideas and their commercialization into working solutions through various business development and advisory services. Solomon was closely involved in the conception and establishment of the first government ICT park (The Accra Digital Centre) a destination for young ICT talents and entrepreneurs.

Previously, Solomon also worked with KPMG (an International advisory firm) for almost nine (9) years as a senior consultant and manager. He was involved in several key IT related consultancy and project management engagements for local and international clients in Ghana and in many other countries. He was particularly in charge of consultancy services in Information Risk Management, re-engineering of information processes, computer systems audit, evaluation and selection of software packages and platforms, IT strategy development, training of system support/user staff and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

Solomon loves teaching and between 2004 and 2007 was a part-time lecturer on the MBA programme in Management Information Systems (MIS) at the University College of Wisconsin, Accra Campus, Ghana. His hobbies include swimming and sightseeing.