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Ndongo Samba Sylla Research Fellow
Our people —
Research Fellow
Ndongo Samba Sylla (PhD) is a Senegalese Development Economist. After his passage at the Prytanée Militaire de Saint-Louis (Senegal) where he obtained his baccalaureate, he had the option of joining a prestigious French military academy to pursue a career in the Senegalese army. But he chose to study social sciences at the Université Paris VII, Sciences Po Paris and the Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines. This choice enabled him to add to his list of achievements as a Scrabble player. His first title of World Champion of French-speaking Scrabble at the age of 21 was followed by three more.
Contact Ndongo Samba Sylla
Ndongo began his professional career as a researcher in France on employment and labor market issues (2001-2006) before joining the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal as a technical advisor for three years. After working as a consultant in the field of Fair Trade, he was recruited as program and research manager at the West Africa office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, where he stayed for eleven years. He currently works at the International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs) as the Dakar-based Research and Policy Director for Africa.
Ndongo co-founded a Senegalese civil society organization and a monthly Dakar-based physical forum on economic issues, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2023. He was also one of the initiators and organizers of the first two editions of the Conference on African Economic and Monetary Sovereignty.
Dr. Sylla authored The Fair Trade Scandal. Marketing Poverty to Benefit the Rich (Pluto Press & Ohio University Press 2014) and co-authored Africa’s Last Colonial Currency. The CFA Franc Story (Pluto Press 2021). He is a co-editor of Economic and Monetary Sovereignty for 21st century Africa (Pluto Press 2021) and Revolutionary Movements in Africa. An Untold Story (Pluto 2023). He is the editor of Imperialism and the Political Economy of Global South’s Debt (Emerald 2023).
Areas of expertise:
Development Economics, Employment and Labor Market relationships, Money and Finance, Studies on Democracy and Social Movements.
Honours/Awards:
4 times World Champion of French-Speaking Scrabble.