Professor Kalu Ojah
Finance and Accounting
Courses and Disciplines taught at WBS:
Financial and International Economics; Corporate Finance and Governance; Capital Markets and Financial Institutions; Investment Management; Innovation and Entrepreneurial Finance.
Other Teaching Experience:
Taught some of the above courses at Wits’ School of Economics & Business Sciences, as well as at other Business Schools in the USA, Spain and UAE.
Research Interests:
Financial and international economics; financing models; corporate governance; banking and capital markets; entrepreneurship; innovation economics; international production.
Industry and Professional Experience:
Consults with multilateral organisations such as African Development Bank, African Capacity Building Foundation, World Bank; companies such as Coca-Cola International, Boatman’s Bank, Consolidated Infrastructure Group Ltd; serves as Board member on a few organisations; a Resource person for a number of educational and accreditation bodies.
Recent Publications and Scholarly Contributions:
Godspower-Akpomiemie, E., & Ojah, K. (2021). Market discipline, regulation and banking effectiveness: Do measures matter? Journal of Banking & Finance, 133 (106249). (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2021.106249)
Soumonni, O., & Ojah, K. (2021). Innovative and mission-oriented financing of renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa: A review and conceptual framework. WIREs Energy & Environment. (https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.416).
Godspower-Akpomiemie, E., & Ojah, K. (2021). Competition and market discipline in the banking industry of emerging market economies. Review of Development Finance, 11(1), 1-25. (https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-rdfin-v11-n1-a1).
Ojah, K., Muhanji, S., & Kodongo, O. (2020). Insider trading laws and price informativeness in emerging stock markets: The South African case. Emerging Markets Review, 43(2). (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2020.100960)
Ngwu, F., Ogbechie, C., & Ojah, K. (2019). Growing cross-border banking in Sub-Saharan Africa and the need for a regional centralized regulatory authority. Journal of Banking Regulation, 20(3), 274-285. (https://doi.org/10.1057/s4127).
Muhanji, S., Ojah, K., & Soumare, I. (2019). How does natural resource endowment and institutional quality influence the nexus between external indebtedness and welfare in Africa? Economic Systems, 43(1), 77-98. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2018.08.005)
Ojah, K., & Van der Hoven, C. (2019). Shareholders and institutional investment. In F. Ngwu, O. Osuji C. Ogbechie, and D. Williamson (Eds), Enhancing Board Effectiveness: Institutional, Regulatory and Functional Perspectives for Developing and Emerging Markets. London, UK: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Ojah, K., & Godspower-Akpomiemie, E. (2019). Money laundering, tax havens and transparency: Any role for the board of directors of banks? In F. Ngwu, O. Osuji C. Ogbechie, and D. Williamson (Eds), Enhancing Board Effectiveness: Institutional, Regulatory and Functional Perspectives for Developing and Emerging Markets. London, UK: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Van der Hoven, C., & Ojah, K. (2019). Individualism in boards or directors: Why good board members make bad decisions. In F. Ngwu, O. Osuji C. Ogbechie, and D. Williamson (Eds), Enhancing Board Effectiveness: Institutional, Regulatory and Functional Perspectives for Developing and Emerging Markets. London, UK: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Akinyemi, S., & Ojah, K. (2018). Transition probabilities between entrepreneurship phases in Africa’s emerging economies: The case of Nigeria and South Africa. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship 23(3). (https://doi.org/10.1142/s1084946718500164)
Mthanti, T., & Ojah, K. (2018). Institutions, human capital and entrepreneurial orientation: Implications for growth policy. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, 7(2), 135-160. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1084946718500164.
Godspower-Akpomiemie, E., & Ojah, K. (2017). Comparative analysis of interest rate effects on bank performance in emerging market versus African economies. African Finance Journal, 19(2), 1-28. (https://doi.org/10.10520/EJC-c5cbf9766)
Mthanti, T., & Ojah, K. (2017). Entrepreneurial orientation (EO): Measurement and policy implications of entrepreneurship at the macroeconomic level. Research Policy, 46(4), 724-739. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.01.012)
Kodongo, K., & Ojah, K. (2017). Equity markets. In Reinert, K. (Eds), The Handbook of Globalization and Development. London, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers.
Ojah, K., & Godspower-Akpomiemie, E. (2017). The market for corporate control and shareholder versus stakeholder models: Whither developing and emerging market economies? In F. Ngwu, O. Osuji and F. Stephen (Eds), Corporate Governance in Developing and Emerging Markets. London, UK: Routledge, Gulford Press.
Mthanti, T., & Ojah, K. (2017). Institutions and corporate governance in South Africa. In F. Ngwu, O. Osuji and F. Stephen (Eds), Corporate Governance in Developing and Emerging Markets. London, UK: Routledge, Gulford Press.
Kodongo, O., & Ojah, K. (2017). Cross-border capital flows and economic performance in Africa: A sectoral analysis. In E. Wamboye and E. Tiruneh (Eds), Foreign Capital Flows and Economic Development in Africa: BRICS’ versus OECD’s Impact. New York, US: Palgrave Macmillan
Other Scholarly Contributions:
Academic journal reviewer of several international journals, including Journal of Banking & Finance; Journal of International Money & Finance; Emerging Markets Review; Research Policy.
Editor: African Finance Journal; Associate Editor: Review of Development Finance; Associate Editor: Quarterly Journal of Finance and Accounting.
Keynote Address, Financial Markets Mix for a “Globally” Competitive Eswatini Capital Markets, at Capital Markets Indaba of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), Mbabane, Eswatini.
Panelist of the Public Discussion, Money Laundering and State Capture in South Africa and the Role of UK Institutions, at Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Key Presenter at the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) Side Event of the 3rd International Conference on Finance for Development (FFD), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, The Capacity for Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) on the African Continent.
Speaker and Discussant at the 4th Africa CEO Round-Table & Conference on Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility (AR-CSR), Calabar, Nigeria, Financial Inclusion, Economic Growth and Sustainability: A Private Sector Perspective.
Community Engagement:
Resource Person: African Economic Resource Consortium; Resource Person: European Development for Management Foundation – EDAF.
International Experience:
Taught at Business Schools in the USA, Europe and UAE; Visiting Scholar at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Recent Media:
Ojah, K. (2020). Independence is at the heart of the African Development Bank’s ability to be effective. The Conversation. (https://theconversation.com/independence-is-at-the-heart-of-the-african-development-banks-ability-to-be-effective-141638)
May 2020, article in Business Report, South Africa’s path to effectively handling Covid-19’s macroeconomic devastation. (https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion-sas-path-to-effectively-handling-covid-19s-macroeconomic-devastation-48514702)
Ojah, K. (2016). What South Africa needs to do to step away from the downgrade precipice. The Conversation. (https://theconversation.com/what-south-africa-needs-to-do-to-step-away-from-the-downgrade-precipice-61335)