Francis Atsu holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Brunel University London, United Kingdom, and a Master's degree in Financial Mathematics from Uppsala University in Sweden. Currently, he serves as a Senior Lecturer, a Pensions Trustee, and the Head of Enterprise Risk Management at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He is a Certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and a Certified Sustainability and Climate Risk Professional (SCR) through the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP), USA. Additionally, he holds the title of an EXIN Agile Scrum Foundation Certified Professional. He coordinates the activities of the Resilience and Adaptation Mainstreaming Program (RAMP) in Ghana.

Research Interests

Atsu's primary research areas encompass sustainable finance, risk management (financial, environmental, and climate change factors), as well as survival analysis, including univariate and multivariate frailty models. Currently, Atsu is focused on examining the double materiality of biodiversity loss within the financial space and its various actors. This research explores two key dimensions. The first dimension involves assessing how biodiversity loss may affect financial institutions, primarily through risks related to their counterparties. The second dimension delves into how financial institutions and shareholders can influence these risks, such as when they provide funding to industrialized agriculture and mining companies that contribute to biodiversity loss through practices like land clearing, excessive fertilizer use and mining in forest reserves.

Additionally, Dr. Atsu and his team at GIMPA have secured a small grant from the World Resources Institute to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the Government of Ghana's "Hand Pollination" (artificial pollination) program, which has been implemented across cocoa farms in Ghana as part of the country's broader "Productivity Enhancement" initiatives.

Mentoring

Supervised over 20 masters and over 15 undergraduate theses. Participated in supervisory committees of 2 PhD theses in the area of finance.

Grants and Consultancy

Hand Pollination, World Resources Institute Grant for the benefits of climate change adaptation, 2023
Fiscal Risk Management Consultant, Ministry of Finance, Ghana Economic Management Strengthening Technical Assistance (GEMS-TA) project funded by the World Bank, 2021
Report Writing Consultant, Ministry of Finance, GEMS-TA project funded by the World Bank, 2021
Basel Accords Consultant, Ministry of Finance, GEMS-TA project funded by the World Bank, 2020
Lead programmer, Statistical Analysis Software (SAS), USAID and GHANA FTF Agriculture Policy Support Project, 2018

Policy engagement

A member of the Board of Trustee of Occupation and Provident pension funds, under the remit of Ghana National Pensions Regulatory Authority

Awards

Best reviewer, African Journal of Economic and Management Studies (AJEMS), 2016
Commonwealth Scholar, Received Commonwealth Scholarship to study PhD Finance at Brunel University, UK, 2012
Gold Medalist, Member of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) 2002 gold medal team in Ghanaian National Interuniversity Cross-country
Gold Medalist, Member of KNUST’s 2001 gold medalist team in Ghanaian National Interuniversity Cross-country

Publications

Currency reform, currency biases and Ghana’s forex market fluctuations: Beyond the macroeconomic fundamentals

Do innovation, financial development and institutional quality matter in managing carbon risk?

Electricity transmission, distribution losses and economic growth in South Africa

ICT, energy consumption, financial development, and environmental degradation in South Africa

Energy consumption, finance, and climate change: does policy uncertainty matter?

People | 17 October 2023