Mwangi S. Kimenyi, founding executive director of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, has joined Brookings as a senior fellow, Brookings President Strobe Talbott announced today.
Kimenyi will join the Africa Growth Initiative, part of the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. Its focus is on Africa’s development challenges and aims to draw more heavily on knowledge and analysis of Africa researchers.
Kimenyi currently serves as associate professor of economics at the University of Connecticut and also as a research associate with the University of Oxford. Under the leadership of Kimenyi, the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) was established in 1999 to provide research and policy analysis and to provide guidance to the Kenyan government and private sector. In 2004, KIPPRA was recognized as a leading policy institute in Africa.
“We are delighted to welcome Mwangi to Brookings and to the Africa Growth Initiative,” said Kemal Derviş, vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. “Through Mwangi’s invaluable expertise and leadership on critical issues relating to the African economy, he will significantly strengthen our research and policy efforts to support African growth and development.”
“I am pleased to join Brookings and look forward to addressing some of the most pressing issues in economic development facing Africa today,” said Kimenyi. “With my colleagues in the Africa Growth Initiative, I am confident we can amplify the policy debate in Africa and bring greater voice to solving the needs of the continent.”
Kimenyi studied at the University of Nairobi, received M.A. degrees in both economics and international affairs from Ohio University, and he received his Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. He has published numerous academic and policy articles as well as several books, including Devolution and Development: Governance Prospects in Decentralizing States (Ashgate, 2004); Restarting and Sustaining Economic Growth in Africa: The Case of Kenya (Ashgate, 2003); Ethnicity and Governance in the Third World (Ashgate, 2001); Institutions and Collective Choice in Developing Countries (Ashgate, 1998); and Economics of Poverty, Discrimination, and Public Policy (South-Western College, 1995). He is also a recipient of many honors and awards for excellence in research and teaching.