Associate Professor Odongo Kodongo
Finance and Accounting
Courses and Disciplines taught at WBS:
Advanced Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance; Capital Budgeting and Project Finance; Investment Banking; Investments
Other notable graduate teaching experience
Wits School of Property Studies (Real Estate Finance; Commercial Real Estate Investments)
Visiting professor at African Economic Research Consortium (Financial Economics); University of Cape Town (International Finance for Development); Strathmore University (Investments); United States International University, Africa (Money and Capital Markets – undergraduate)
Research Interests
Development Finance, Economic Growth, Asset Pricing, and Corporate Finance
Industry and professional experience
Odongo is finance scholar and practitioner with many years of experience in development finance and asset pricing research, valuation, financial modeling, risk analysis, and impact assessment. He has consulted for or advised many private sector organizations, development finance institutions, and governmental agencies including Libya Oil, African Development Bank, African Capacity Building Foundation, USAID; Department of Public Enterprises, South Africa; Government of Limpopo, South Africa, and many others, on issues such as: understanding the financial risk of a proposed acquisition, mobilization and absorption of financial and fiscal resources, assessment of Africa’s infrastructure financing capacity, impact evaluation of enterprise support programs, and enabling youth employment. He has participated in the preparation of African Development Bank’s premier publication, “African Economic Outlook”.
Odongo is also a founder director of Thako Capital, a research, advisory and consulting enterprise with expertise in development finance/economics, financial modelling, valuation, corporate governance, risk appraisal and management, and index development and analytics, among others.
Recent publications
Effective financial inclusion and the need to put the horse before the cart: Saving! International Review of Financial Analysis. (2024, with Kalu Ojah)
Financial inclusion effects of engaging with the fintech ecosystem. International Review of Economics and Finance. (2024)
Bond market development and infrastructure-gap reduction: The case of Sub-Saharan Africa. Economic Modelling. (2023, with Kalu Ojah and Paul Mukoki)
Foreign direct investment and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A nonlinear analysis. Economic Systems. (2022, with George Asafo-Agyei)
Infrastructure threshold, quality, and economic development in Africa: Do income level and geography matter? Economic Change and Restructuring. (2022, with Stella Muhanji and Kalu Ojah)
The Fama-French five-factor model and emerging market equity returns. Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance. (2022, with Selebogo Mosoeu)
Insider trading laws and price informativeness in emerging stock markets: The South African case. Emerging Markets Review . (2020, with Kalu Ojah and Stella Muhanji)
Other scholarly contributions
Associate Editor: Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Journal of African Development, Africagrowth Agenda
Scientific Committee Member: Review of Development Finance
Keynote Address, Kenya’s capital markets master plan:Five years later, what are the economic impacts? at Capital Markets Indaba of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), Mbabane, Eswatini.
Ad hoc reviewer for many journals such as Economic Modelling; International Review of Financial Analysis; Business Strategy and the Environment; International Review of Economics and Finance; Financial Innovation; Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance; Review of Development Finance; African Development Review; Oxford Development Studies; European Journal of Finance, Economic Systems, and many others.
Recent Media
Kenyans stand to lose from Adani airport deal: finance guru explains why
Kenya could run out of money to repay massive debts: how to avoid this
Kenya’s shilling is regaining value, but don’t expect it to last - expert
Kenya’s first budget under Ruto – three experts review its key points.
Kenya has breached its public debt ceiling – how it got there and what that means.
Uhuru Kenyatta’s economic legacy: big on promises, but weak on delivery.
States have a role to play to help Africa’s struggling capital markets.
Vaccines could prevent the exploitation of Africans.
Why Kenya’s public debt overhang must worry us.
China’s One Belt, One Road may be a dead end for African countries.