About me

John Nana Darko Francois is an Economist in the Fiscal Policy Unit of the Global Department at the World Bank Group's Prosperity Vice Presidency, which provides the Bank's analytical and policy work on fiscal sustainability, the quality of public spending, and domestic revenue mobilization, and leads its Public Finance Reviews (PFRs). He works on analytical products focusing on public spending, macro-fiscal issues, and state-owned enterprises, including the fiscal risks they pose in developing countries. His work is central in supporting PFRs across the Bank's client countries, with a focus on helping governments design more effective and sustainable fiscal policy strategies. He currently leads a $3 million trust fund supporting fiscal and economic resilience in Small Island Developing States.

Prior to joining the World Bank in 2022, he was an Assistant Professor at the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business at West Texas A&M University. He has consulted for the African Economic Research Consortium and UNU-WIDER. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Kansas and a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics from the University of Ghana. His research interests include macro-fiscal policy issues in developing countries, public spending effectiveness, international capital flows including aid and remittances, and the role of institutions in access to basic services. His research has been published in scholarly journals such as the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, the Journal of International Money and Finance, Economics Letters, The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, and the Journal of African Economies.   Curriculum Vitae

Associate Editor: South African Journal of Economic