Opportunity Details

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Faculty Information
	Pearl Robinson
	pearl.robinson@tufts.edu
	Associate Professor
	P: (617) 627-2035
Address:
	Dept of Political Science Tufts University
	Medford, MA 02155

Opportunity:

EcoBank, a West African Regional Bank: Impacts and Effects on Banking in Senegal

Summary:

Regionalism and regional organizations are at the forefront of an ever-increasingly integrated Africa. Economic regional integration is an essential facet of relations between African states, and is a concept that holds many keys to the development and future stability of the African continent. In 2008 Ecobank won the African Banker Award for the Most Innovative Bank. From an outsider’s perspective, EcoBank has successfully emerged as a stable institution that has promoted investment and economic development in West Africa – a rather unstable African region which is home to the largest number of coup d’états. How has EcoBank achieved this success? How could their model be used to gather information for further economic integration? How has regional economic integration affected the lives of average Senegalese?

Contact Via:

E-mail

What is the timeframe for this research opportunity?

Summer 2009 and beyond (if necessary)

Prerequisities for students?

Background in economics, preferably finance and banking, African politics, international relations, and economic development

Responsibilities for students?

Survey customer base, contact and interview branch managers, collect data on private banking in Senegal, examine links between government and EcoBank/other banks, investigate role of EcoBank in day-to-day commerce in Senegal.

Area(s) of Research:

African Regionalism,

Economic Integration

Political Economy

Economic Development

Poverty Alleviation