Infrastructure Economics and Finance
School Research Theme: Economics and financing of the built environment
Research supervisors: Prof D'Maris Coffman; Dr Priti Parikh; Prof Michelle Baddeley; Dr Ian Hamilton
Start date: 29 September 2016
My PhD investigates the political economy of the energy mix of hydropower dependent developing nations, with a focus on Zambia.
My PhD research, studentship, fees and residential bursaries are funded respectively by the International Growth Centre, UCL and Goodenough College.
Current roles:
- Senior Economist, Vivid Economics
- Captain, Goodenough Cricket Club.
- Violinist, Good Ensemble.
Former roles before I entered Completing Research Status:
- Research Project Manager for IGC-funded research assessing the welfare effects of undersupply of power on Zambia's manufacturing firms
- Teaching Fellow to MSc Infrastructure Investment and Finance and MSc Construction Economics and Management students.
Prior to my PhD, I helped the Rwandan government execute award-winning and innovative infrastructure projects as its PPP Transactions Advisor from 2012-2016, and developed investment presentation and appraisal tools and contributed to Rwanda’s laws on PPPs and investment promotion as a Special Policy Advisor to Rwanda’s Treasury to the Secretary.
Before that, I worked in African private equity in London. I have a Master of International Business degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where I was a Schmidheiny Global Business Scholar, with an exchange at HEC Paris, and a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley.
- Publications and other work
Since PhD and related:
- Journal article: Ahmed et al (2020) The impact decades-long dependence on hydropower in El Niño impact-prone Zambia is having on carbon emissions through backup diesel generation (Environmental Research Letters)
- Journal article: Explaining Rwanda's prioritisation of rural electrification over rural clean drinking water through institutional path dependency, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics (Elsevier/Science Direct) Vol 54, September 2020, pp 186-201
- Increasing tariffs to prevent another electricity crisis in Zambia, International Growth Centre blog, 31 March 2020, co-authored with Shivani Haria
- Conference presentation: Ahmed, I (2020), "The cost of power outages to Zambia's manufacturing firms, households and the climate", Energy and Economic Reliability 2020, Grid Reliability & Operations, Movenpick Hotel, Accra, 4-5 February.
- Working paper: Ahmed, I. et al. (2019), The cost of power outages to Zambia’s manufacturing sector, International Growth Centre.
- Broadcast economic presentation: Nurturing the Manufacturing Sector, ZNBC News, 5 September, 2019
- Policy Brief: Ahmed, I. et al. (2019). The cost of power outages to Zambia’s manufacturing sector, International Growth Centre.
- Interview: Powering the Zambian Economy, Bartlett 100, 24 April, 2019
- Interview: On leading Rwandan negotiations for the Kigali Water Supply Project, UCL CPM website, 15 January, 2019
- Journal book review: Ahmed, I. (2018). Chris Huggins, Agricultural Reform in Rwanda: authoritarianism, markets and zones of governance, Africa, 88(4) pp 896-897. Africa (Cambridge University Press), 7 November, 2018
- Seismic costs, Dawn, 7 October, 2018
- Courting disaster, Dawn, 18 August, 2017
- After off-grid electricity, what chance off-grid water?, Financial Times, 31 July, 2017
- Leapfrogging into the light, Financial Times, 27 March, 2017
Since PhD and unrelated:
- Interview: Final Day of the Election Campaign, BBC Asian Network, 11 December, 2019
- Interview: Muslim vote: Political chat ahead of the election, BBC Stories, 10 December, 2019
- Ahmed, I. What have the Lib Dems ever done for Britain? Lib Dem Voice, 26th November, 2019
- Interview: Populism in Europe, Trialeti TV, 23 October, 2019
- Interview: The Continuing Story of Brexit, Through the News, 22 October, 2019
- Broadcast economic presentation: Amazon Fires, BBC Parliament, 16 September, 2019
- How British liberals should advocate for the human rights of the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir, Lib Dem Voice, 30 August, 2019
- The case for changing our laws on revoking citizenship, Lib Dem Voice, 19 August, 2019.
- What’s in a name?, Pakistan Today, 20 March, 2017
Pre-PhD and related:
- PPP success in Rwanda shows potential for greater self-reliance, Financial Times beyondbrics, 2 April, 2015
- Is your economy sharia compliant?, The Guardian Comment is Free, 2 February, 2011
- What is the world had been following Islamic financial practices?, The Guardian Comment is Free, 7 January, 2011
- Pakistan, rebranded, The Boston Globe, 25 March, 2010, co-authored