Mohammed Ibrahim

Interests and Expertise

I am an international development and public management specialist with  practitioner-researcher experience in governance, public administration, sustainable development and organisational development. My expertise also includes building equitable research and policy partnerships to drive better development outcomes. My teaching and research focus on how state capacity, human resource management systems, and active citizenship practices shape the social contract and influence policy outcomes for poor and vulnerable populations.

Sustainability and technology are key concerns in my work - whether embedding resilience within public sector reforms, strengthening organisations for long-term effectiveness, leveraging digital technologies for service delivery, or integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into policy design and institutional practice. My research engages themes such as:

• Technology, social policy and inclusive governance
• Organisational behaviour and institutional capacity
• Street-level bureaucracy and human resource management systems
• Global partnerships for sustainable development
• Poverty, inequality and long-term resilience

My recent work has also extended to Africa–Gulf relations in the post-aid retrenchment era, exploring their implications for sustainable financing, South-South cooperation and alternative development pathways.

In line with these interests, I have conducted research, published and convened international panels on social protection and climate change, child welfare, equitable partnerships, social policy financing and African policy process. I have been published in leading journals including Social Policy&Administration, Children&Society, and the International Journal of Public Administration.

Recent projects include:

• Principal Investigator: Social Protection, State Infrastructural Power, and Uneven Child Healthcare Access (International Science Partnerships Fund)
• Co-Investigator: The Distributive Politics of Oil Revenue Management and Implications for Regional Inequalities (Ford Foundation)
• Co-Investigator: The Effect of Social Engagements (Child Clubs, Mentoring) on Reducing Teenage Pregnancy in Ghana (International Science Partnerships Fund)

Biography

I am a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Human Resource Management and International Development at The University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute (GDI), where I also earned my PhD in Development Policy&Management. I previously obtained an MPhil in Public Administration from the University of Ghana Business School. I am the Director of GDI's MSc in Organisational Change and Development programme and also serve as its Equitable Partnerships Coordinator, facilitating collaborations with universities, researchers, and development organisations in the 'Global South' (particularly Ghana). Within GDI’s Management, Governance and Development cluster, I lead annual residential fieldtrips that engage students with development organisations and practitioners, enabling them to link classroom learning with real-world experience.

I previously served as a Research Associate at the Managlobal Consortium on Globalised Governance Norms and Business Practices in Africa and the Arab Peninsula where I examined the "triple helix" role of academia, business associations and policy elites in the public policy making process. I also worked on the political economy of social protection expansion as a researcher at the DFID-funded Effective States and Inclusive Development Centre. Before these roles, I was a University of Manchester Zochonis Charitable Scholar, having been recognised as "a person of outstanding calibre committed to the creation of knowledge to improve the lives of poorer people in Ghana and Africa." I began my academic career as a lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Ghana.

Prior to my academic and research roles, I was an Assistant Director in the Ghana Civil and Local Government Services where I led or contributed to national and donor-funded programmes in human capital development, social development, public financial management, environmental governance and sustainability. I was also a sub-national social protection lead and M&E focal person for the Ghana School Feeding Programme, and the Ghana AIDS Commission and World Bank’s Multi-sectoral HIV and AIDS Programme. In partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Rural Enterprises Programme (supported by AfDB, IFAD and Government of Ghana), I also provided business advisory services, as business development officer, for small and micro enterprises, women and the youth to address rural poverty and unemployment.

Teaching roles at GDI

Convenor

Research Methods and Skills in Organisational Contexts

Human Resource Planning and Development

Contributing Lecturer

Development Practice: International Contexts and Worlds of Action

Financing Social Protection

Organizational Psychology, Management and Change

Research Methods in Human Resource Management

Organisational Behaviour

Previously

Contributing Lecturer, Human Resource Practice

Co-convenor, Organisational Behaviour

Co-convenor, Research Methods in Human Resource Management

Engagement, Social Responsibility and Impact

I work closely with the policy and development community, drawing on my practitioner and research experience to provide analysis and advisory services in political economy, digital and technological innovation in service delivery, poverty and inequality, programme evaluation, institutional strengthening, and evidence-based policy. I have consulted for national and international organisations including the Ford Foundation, FCDO, Oxfam, UNICEF, UNECA, Good Neighbours UK, Ghana’s National Development Planning Commission, Centre for Poverty Policy Studies, the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative, and the ILO-OGBL.

In line with the University of Manchester’s strong commitment to social responsibility, I volunteer with the State Capacity and Citizenship Building Research Centre (SCCB-Africa), a not-for-profit organisation I helped to establish, inspired by my doctoral research at the Global Development Institute. SCCB-Africa advances active citizenship and promotes state responsiveness in Africa through research, advocacy, and policy influencing action, with an increasing focus on sustainable development challenges and the role of technology in governance and citizen engagement.

My research, advisory and volunteering works have informed national and donor-led social protection systems, personnel and institutional capacity building in government agencies, maternal and infant health interventions, emergency response strategies (e.g., during the COVID-19 pandemic), and results-based aid awards to local government agencies. These efforts have also contributed to broader sustainability goals by promoting more resilient public institutions, inclusive service delivery, and adaptive use of digital tools in development practice.

My work has also gained recognition among influential policy practitioners and organisations, including being shortlisted in the Best of UNICEF Research Global Awards, commended by the World Bank’s Global Lead for Social Assistance, and cited in influential reports such as the International Monetary Fund’s Macroeconomic Developments and Prospects for Low-Income Countries. In 2015, I was among a select group of public servants awarded by the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) for exceptional performance in decentralisation, rural development and environmental governance.