Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai

Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Ghana Business School, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK. He holds a First Class Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Ghana, an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Development Policy and Management from the University of Manchester. He has carried out a series of commissioned research for a number of international development agencies and research institutions, including UNICEF, the World Bank, DFID, UNU-WIDER, the ILO, the Overseas Development Institute (London), and the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre (Manchester). His research focuses on the intersection between politics and development, with particular focus on natural resource governance, spatial inequalities, and social protection. Other research interests include urban governance, public sector reforms, and the politics ‘pockets of effectiveness’ in the global south. He is the co-author of Governing Extractive Industries: Politics, Histories, Ideas (Oxford University Press, 2018). His work has been published by several top-ranked international journals, including African Affairs; Politics & Policy, New Political Economy, Democratization, Development Policy Review; European Journal of Development Research; Journal of International Development; and Labour, Capital and Society. His article on the politics of Ghana’s education sector won the prestigious Gerti Hesseling Prize (2017) awarded for the best journal article by an African scholar published in an AEGIS-affiliated academic Journal. He also received the runner-up position for African Affairs’ African Author Prize in 2018. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of African Affairs, the top-ranked area studies journal in the world.

Research :

With his background in Political Science and Development Studies, Dr. Abdulai’s research focuses mainly on exploring the relationships between politics and development. More specifically, he is interested in:

• The politics and political economy of development
• Distributive politics and spatial inequality
• Social protection
• Politics of public sector reforms
• Urbanization and development, and
• The politics of natural resource governance

Books:

1. Bebbington, A., Abdulai, A-G, Hinfelaar, M., Humphreys Bebbington D and Sanborn C. (2018), Governing Extractive Industries: Politics, Histories, Ideas. (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Journal Publications:

1. Sabates-Wheeler, R.; Wilmink, N.; Abdulai, A.G.; de Groot, R.; Spadafora, T. (2019) 'Linking Social Rights to Active Citizenship for the Most Vulnerable: the Role of Rights and Accountability in the ‘Making’ and ‘Shaping’ of Social Protection', The European Journal of Development Research,
2. Mosley, P., and Abdulai, A-G. (2019), ‘The political economy of progressive fiscal contracts in Africa and Latin America’. Development Policy Review.
3. Abdulai, A-G., Abubakari, A-B., and Martey, J. (2019). ‘Is Social Protection in Ghana a Right?. Development in Practice. 29:8, 1064-1074.
4. Mohan, G., Asante, K. P., and Abdulai, A-G. (2018), ‘Party politics and the political economy of Ghana’s oil’. New Political Economy. 23(3): 274-289.
5. Abdulai, A-G., Bawole, J. N., and Sakyi, E. K. (2018), ‘Rethinking Persistent Poverty in Northern Ghana: The Primacy of Politics and Policy over Geography’. Politics and Policy. 46(2): 233-262.
6. Abdulai, A-G. (2017), ‘Rethinking Spatial Inequality in Development: The Primacy of Power Relations’. Journal of International Development. 29(3): 386-403.
7. Abdulai, A-G. (2017), ‘The Political Economy of Regional Inequality in Ghana: Do Political Settlements Matter? The European Journal of Development Research, 29(1): 213-229.
8. Abdulai, A-G (2017), ‘Political economy of decentralisation and the challenge of improved service delivery in urban Ghana’. Ghana Journal of Development Studies. 14(2): 83-104.
9. Abdulai, A-G., and Hickey, S. (2016), ‘The Politics of Development under Competitive Clientelism: Insights from Ghana’s Education Sector’. African Affairs, 115(458): 44–72.
10. Abdulai, A-G., and Hulme, D. (2015), 'The Politics of Regional Inequality in Ghana: State Elites, Donors and PRSPs’, Development Policy Review 33(5): 529-553.
11. Abdulai, A-G. (2014), ‘The Politics of Resource Sharing and Regional Inequality in Ghana: Lessons for the Post-2015 Development Agenda’ Development 57(3-4): 488-496.
12. Abdulai, A-G., and Crawford, G. (2010), ‘Democratic Consolidation in Ghana: Prospects and Challenges? Democratization, 17(1): 26- 67.
13. Crawford, G. and Abdulai, A-G. (2009), ‘The World Bank and Ghana’s Poverty Reduction Strategies: Strengthening the State or Consolidating Neo-liberalism?’ Labour, Capital and Society, 42(1&2): 82-115.
14. Abdulai, A-G., and Quantson, R. (2009), ‘The Changing Role of CSOs in Public Policy Making in Ghana’, Ghana Social Science Journal, 5&6 (1&2): 114-151.
15. Abdulai, A-G. (2009), ‘Political Will in Combating Corruption in Developing and Transition Economies: A Comparative Study of Singapore, Hong Kong and Ghana’, Journal of Financial Crime, 16(4): 387-417.