Kofi Takyi Asante is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana. His research lies at the intersection of political, economic, and historical sociology. His substantive research areas include colonialism and state formation, citizenship, governance, and development. His research over the years has focused on exploring the emergence, transformations, and contemporary character of the Ghanaian state, as well as the implication of these political economy trends on citizenship and civic engagement. He has consulted for many local and international organisations, including UNDP, Open Government Partnership (OGP), International Budget Partnership (IBP) among others. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Ghana Studies; an Editorial Committee member of the Child Marriage Information Portal of the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MoGCSP); and was a part-time Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG). His publications have appeared in African Economic History, Ghana Studies, and Oxford Development Studies, among others. He studied at the University of Ghana, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Northwestern University. Before joining ISSER, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
ktasante@ug.edu.gh
- Economic and Political Sociology
- Citizenship and Participation
- Corruption and Social Accountability
- Political Economy of Development
Selected Publications
Takyiakwaa, D., Tetteh, P. S. K., & Asante, K. T. (2024). ‘Associations do not survive here’: Inequality, Mistrust and Obstacles to Collective Action in Oil Palm Growing Communities in Ghana. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231224684
Dzanku, F. M., Asante, K. T., & Hodey, L. S. (2023). Heterogeneous market participation channels and household welfare. Oxford Development Studies, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2023.2289196
Ackah, C., Torvikey, G.D., Obeng Adomaa, F. and Asante, K.T. (2023), “You cannot rely on bank loans to expand your business”: aversion to formal credit among female micro-entrepreneurs in Ghana, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-02-2023-0090
Asante, K.T. (2023). The politics of policy failure in Ghana: The case of oil palm. World Development Perspectives, 31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2023.100509
Sowah, A.N.A., Tetteh, P.S.K., & Asante, K.T. (2023). Inequality and Inclusive Development in Ghana. In Sabin Bieri and Christoph Bader (eds), Transitioning to Reduced Inequalities. Basel: MDPI.
Asante, K.T. (2022). Residual capacity and the political economy of pandemic response in Ghana. WIDER Working Paper 22/44. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER.
Shaw, Jo, Kofi Takyi Asante, Ambreena Manji, Maarten Vink, and Bronwen Manby. (January 2022). GLOBALCIT Review Symposium of Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa, Robtel Neajai Pailey. Global Citizenship Observatory: https://globalcit.eu/globalcit-review-symposium-of-development-dual-citizenship-and-its-discontents-in-africa-robtel-neajai-pailey/
Quartey, P. and Asante, K. T. (2021). Overview: The Socio-economic Impacts of Pandemic. In ISSER and UNDP (eds.) The Socio-economic Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Ghana, 2020-2021. (pp. 1-8). Accra: Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research.
Addoquaye Tagoe, Cynthia and Asante, K.T. (2021). Community Resilience against Challenges of Employment under COVID-19. In ISSER and UNDP (eds.) The Socio-economic Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Ghana, 2020-2021. (pp. 125-143). Accra: Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research.
Manu-Osafo, M. J., Lamptey, E. and Asante, K. T. (2021). “What are we celebrating?”: Nation-Building and The Politics of Independence Commemoration in Ghana. E-rea: Revue électronique d’études sur le monde anglophone, (19.1).
Takyiakwaa, D., Tetteh, P. S. K. and Asante, K. T. (2021). Explaining the Weakness of Associational Life in Oil Palm Growing Communities in Southwestern Ghana. APRA Working Paper WP 68, Brighton: Future Agricultures Consortium.
Asante, K. T. and Saul Mullard. (2021). Social Accountability and Anti-corruption in Ghana’s Fertiliser Subsidy Programme. U4 Issue 2021 :6. Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Asante,K.T. (2021) Political Economy of the Oil Palm Value Chain in Ghana. APRA Working Paper WP 54, Brighton: Future Agricultures Consortium.
Asante, K. T. (2020). ‘Citizens not spectators’? Contemporary Journal of African Studies, 7(2), 1-17.
Asante, K. T. (2020). Political Identity in a Postcolony: Citizenship, Belonging, and Nation-Building in Ghana. In Political Identity and Democratic Citizenship in Turbulent Times (pp. 113-128). IGI Global.
Asante, K. T. (2020). Individualistic and Collectivistic Orientations: Examining the Relationship between Ethnicity and National Attachment in Ghana. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 20(1), 2-24.
Asante, K. T. (2020). Imagining Citizenship and Belonging in Ghana. Development, 63(1), 90-94.
Asante, K. T. (2020). Nested Patriotism: Revisiting Collaboration, Resistance and Agency in Colonial Ghana. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 33(3), 347-364.
Asante, K. T. and Khisa, M. (2019). ‘Political Corruption and the Limits of Anti-corruption Activism in Ghana’, in Inge Amusden (ed), Political Corruption and Development: Extraction, Power Preservation and Donor Responses, Cheltenham and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Asante, K. T. (2018). ‘Strategic Coethnicity: Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Strategies of Two Ghanaian Migrant Businesses’, Journal of Enterprising Communities, 12(4): 418-436
Anyidoho, N. A. and Asante, K. T. (2008). ‘Truly National? Social Exclusion and the Ghana@50 Celebrations,’ Ghana Studies, 11: 139-173.
Theories and Methods of Development - MA Development Studies (since 2019/2020)
Gender and Development - MA Development Studies (2019/2020)
Development Training Workshop I & II - MA Development Studies (2021/2022 - 2022-2023)
Advanced Qualitative Methods and Analyses - PhD Development Studies (since 2018/2019)
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Development - PhD Development Studies (2020/2021)