Team – Dr. Francis Wasswa

Francis Wasswa is a Development Economist. He holds a PhD in Quantitative Models for Policy Analysis from the Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy (2012), Masters of Commerce in Economics from The University of Melbourne, Australia (2011), Masters of Science in Economic Research from the University of North Texas, USA (2002), and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Makerere University (1999). Currently, Francis is a Lecturer in the School of Economics, College of Business and Management, Makerere University.

Francis has over 8 years of experience in capacity building and conducting and communicating evidence-based policy results to multiple audiences. His research interests range from Microeconomic Analysis of Welfare and Policy, including Growth and poverty dynamics, Multidimensional poverty analysis, Policy Impact Analysis, Poverty and Social Impact Analysis, Public Spending, Poverty and Equity; and Development Policy Modelling, particularly the analysis of linkages between growth, poverty, and income distribution and dynamic impacts of macroeconomic policies and shocks using economy-wide modelling techniques (e.g., computable general equilibrium and social accounting matrix multiplier-based methods).

He has consulted for Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and has been instrumental in generating and coordinating evidence-based policy research to inform the Ugandan national budget and other economic policies, with particular focus on the Government’s poverty-reduction strategies. To this end, he was the Principal contributor of: Poverty Status Report 2014: Structural Change and Poverty Reduction in Uganda, and The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report for Uganda 2015: Results, Reflection and the Way Forward. He also provided significant technical input to MFPED’s flagship reports such as the Uganda Employment Challenge (2014), Absorptive Capacity Constraints study (2015), and Sustainable Development Report (2016); and UNDP’s recent Human Development Report for Uganda (2015). Francis has extensive practical experience in analysing large micro datasets (e.g household surveys and administrative data) using statistical software such as Stata, DASP and ADePT; and using economy-wide modelling software such as GAMS and GEMPACK to conduct the analysis of impacts of welfare policy and macroeconomic shocks.

Key Expertise Areas

• Economic Policy Research and Analysis
• Capacity Building in Evidence Based Economic Policy
• Growth and Poverty Alleviation