Dr Fiennasah Annif’ Akem

Fiennasah Annif’ Akem is a development economist and a recipient of the ARUA Early Career Research Fellowship 2025. She holds a PhD from the University of Dschang, Cameroon, and an MSc in Applied Economics from the University of Yaoundé II in collaboration with Université de Rennes 1, France. Her research focuses on gender disparities, financial inclusion, labour markets, and informal economies. She has presented her work at international conferences including the CSAE Annual Conference and published in peer-reviewed journals such as Review of Development Economics and Applied Economics Letters. Fiennasah previously undertook a six-month research internship with UN Women’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office, supporting work on women’s economic empowerment. She is spending the ARUA Fellowship at the ACEIR South Africa node at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.