Dr Mubanga Mpundu is an academic and researcher in the field of economics. His research interests span across the areas of financial economics, economics of education, economics of development, public policy and econometrics. He is a Senior Lecturer of Economics at University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Prior to that, he was a Postgraduate Research Advising Specialist at the Potchefstroom campus of the North-West University. He provided research support to North-West University postgraduate students by offering walk-in and online research advice and guidance. He is a member of the Economics Society of South Africa, Economics Association of Zambia, South African Comparative and History of Education Society and Golden Key International Honour Society. He was a research fellow at North-West University and worked for Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa Research Department. He has published in peer reviewed journals and successfully supervised and graduated Honours, Masters and PhD students. In addition, Dr Mpundu has continued to supervise other postgraduate students. He has also presented his work at various local and international conferences and acts as reviewer for academic journals and external examiner of dissertations/thesis for various Universities. Prior to his role at North-West University, Dr Mpundu was a researcher at Walter Sisulu University. His role included conducting research, publishing in peer reviewed journals, supervising postgraduate research projects and lecturing selected postgraduate courses. He was also a senior lecturer at the University of Lusaka, Zambia. In his role, he lectured full-time, part-time and distance students. He also prepared modules for students, developed and improved course outlines for programs, prepared lesson plans, set examinations and continuous assessment and supervised undergraduate and postgraduate research projects. As head of the research department of the university, he worked on projects such as the Content Development and Training on Financial Services Advocacy and Financial Consumer Protection for Traditional Leaders – Zambia Sector Deepening Limited, 2019 -2020 under FSD Zambia as a lead consultant. The main goal of the project was to expand financial inclusion through traditional leaders spearheading the process, with the objective of improving financial inclusion in Luapula province, particularly for the 80% of the total population who live below the poverty line. He also worked with the Radiation Protection Authority Zambia as fund sourcing consultant. The general long-term objective of the project was construction of the specialised laboratory and offices to enhance nuclear and radiological security and capacity in ensuring that the environment is not contaminated with radiation from Nuclear and Radiological activities Before joining the University of Lusaka, Dr Mpundu was a post-doctoral fellow at the North-West University. He worked on research projects which include; Ngaka Molema district school improvement project where he had a role of team member for economics subject. He also taught undergraduate and postgraduate modules as well as supervised student research projects. In his research philosophy, Dr Mpundu believes that all students can learn and succeed when appropriately supported while understanding that cultural diversity of the students assists in designing tailor effective instruction by implementing appropriate concrete strategies.
