Ahmadou Aly Mbaye

Ahmadou Aly Mbaye is vice-chancellor of University Cheikh Anta DIOP (UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal and a senior research associate at the Centre for Development Research (ZEF, University of Bonn, Germany). He currently holds the position of director of the Laboratoire d’Analyse des Politiques de Developpement (LAPD). He is also the director of the regional graduate program in climate change economics (including 10 countries). Previously, he had served as the dean of the School of Economics and Management at the Cheikh Anta DIOP University and chair of CIEREA-PTCI (the Francophone African network of research and higher education in economics) Board for 10 years. Mbaye has been a consultant for many regional and international organizations. He is managing several international programs within his universities and has numerous publications on development economics and Africa. Mbaye has been serving as a member in the AERC’s Programme Committee for more than four years now.

In the area of research, Mbaye has developed a new concept of the informal sector, which challenges the mainstream formal/informal dichotomous classification, and proposes an approach of informality based on a continuum of degrees of formality. He then led an international team that implemented the methodology in most Francophone African countries. The multi-donor financed project that resulted from this experience has led to several publications, including a volume and numerous peer reviewed papers.