Yakama Manty Jones is an Economist, Entrepreneur, and Philanthropist pioneering interventions for improved human capital development outcomes in Africa by leveraging public policy, data, entrepreneurship, technology, innovation and mentorship across Sierra Leone’s public and private sectors.

Yakama is the Director of Research and Delivery in Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Finance and doubles as the country’s Focal Person for the Human Capital Project. She also lectures in the Department of Economics and Commerce at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

As an Entrepreneur and champion for women’s economic empowerment, Yakama is the CEO and part-owner of PI Group, operating in the shipping logistics, manufacturing and agribusiness industries. She is also the founder of the Yak Jones Foundation, which focuses on promoting literacy.

Yakama has served as Delivery Team Lead for the President’s Post-Ebola Recovery Programme, Senior Expert for the European Union’s Public Financial Management State Capacity Building Project in Sierra Leone, and an Open Government Fellow at Code for Africa and Google News Lab.

Yakama Manty Jones holds a BSc. (Hons) in Economics, MSc. Finance and Economics, MRes. International Business and Economic Development, PhD Finance and Economics, a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Oxford and an Executive Certificate in Economic Development from the Harvard Kennedy School.