Former PhD students
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Dr. Cécile Godfroid
Cécile Godfroid is a teaching and research associate at the Warocqué School of Business and Economics (Université de Mons - UMONS) in management and organizational theory. She successfully defended her PhD in August 2018 at CERMi (UMONS) under the supervision of Professor Marc Labie. The topic of her PhD was “Human Resources in Social Enterprises: The Case of Microfinance Loan Officers”. Her doctoral research involved both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and was conducted in Senegal, Ethiopia and Columbia. In 2019, she was welcomed at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the USA and at the CERSEM (Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance) of the University of Agder in Norway for short-term postdoctoral stays. Her current studies are in line with the continuity of her thesis as she keeps working on topics related to organizational behaviour and human resource management in social enterprises and microfinance organizations. She also starts examining other topics in microfinance such as formal regulation of the sector or organizational strategies to cope with external shocks.
Tristan Caballero-Montes
Tristan Caballero-Montes is currently doing a PhD at the University of Mons (Warocqué School of Business and Economics) under the supervision of Professor Marc Labie and Dr. Cécile Godfroid via a scholarship from the Fonds de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines (FRESH – FNRS). The topic of his PhD is “Financial inclusion and sectorial dynamics: Analysis of regulation, competition, and collective action in microfinance”. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Engineering from the University of Mons, and a Specialised Master in microfinance from Université Libre de Bruxelles, in 2019. He has working experiences in the field of microfinance through medium-term field research carried out at the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA), and at the Tanzania Association of Microfinance Institutions (TAMFI), especially.
Email at Tristan.CABALLERO-MONTES@umons.ac.be
Marion Allet
Marion Allet successfully defended, on February 21, 2013, her PhD Thesis in Economics and Management under joint supervision between the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (Université libre de Bruxelles - ULB) and at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (IEDES-UMR 201). Her research focused on « green microfinance » and sought to assess to what extent it is relevant for microfinance to aim at an environmental bottom line.
Since 2009, Marion has also been working as a project manager, with Planet Finance and then with PAMIGA, on various programs promoting access to renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean water through microfinance. She has extensive work experience in sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. She actively contributed to the development of the Green Index and of Dimension 7 of the Universal Standards. She is currently Head of Environment & Impact at Cerise+SPTF.
Email: marion.allet@gmail.com
Katarzyna Cieslik
Katarzyna Cieslik is a lecturer in Global Development at the Global Development Institute, specializing in social and environmental sustainability transitions. She has a PhD in Economics and Management from the University of Brussels and a Master’s degree in International Development from the University of Amsterdam.
Katarzyna’s research focuses on the interactions among society, technology and environment, and their implications for sustainable development in the Global South. Through critical political economy frameworks, she investigates the role of technology in both exacerbating and alleviating the tensions between work/livelihoods and environmental conservation.
Topics of interest:
- Natural resource governance and its relationship to sustainable livelihoods, with a particular focus on collective action;
- The impact of technological transitions (including ICT4Agr) on rural livelihoods.
Katarzyna pursues an actively international and interdisciplinary research agenda: she has been a research associate at Cambridge University, a visiting researcher at Yale University’s Agrarian Studies Centre, and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wageningen. She has conducted research in Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Burundi. Her research is highly practice-oriented; she cooperated with the UNICEF Innovation Labs and a number of local NGOs in Africa (National Union of App-based Transport Workers in Nigeria, FVS Amade Burundi, FARA, CIP in Ethiopia), South America (CONDESAN, AGAPE), and Asia (Practical Action Nepal, Mountain Societies Research Institute).
Email: katarzyna.cieslik@manchester.ac.uk
Google Scholar profile
Muluneh Hideto Dato
Email: mulunehh@uia.no
Tel: +32 (0) 46/541.90.10
Hélène Joachain
Hélène Joachain is postdoctoral fellow at the CERMi under the supervision of Professor Marek Hudon. Her research focuses on transition to environmental sustainability, and more specifically on behavioural changes and underlying motivations and values. One of her main topics is the role complementary currencies could play in facilitating such a transition to more sustainable lifestyles, including in projects based on common-pooled resources. Hélène holds a PhD in Economics and Management Science from Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (SBS). She holds a master in Business Engineering from SBS, a master in Environment (IGEAT) and a master in French Language and Literature (creative writing: ELICIT). Before joining the ULB, she has worked at Triodos Bank which is specialised in sustainable investments. Since she joined the ULB, she has been, amongst others, actively involved in setting up and coordinating the Innovative Instruments for Energy Saving Policies (INESPO) project funded by Belgian Science Policy. She has also contributed to the feasibility study of Eco-Iris, a complementary currency scheme in the Brussels Region developed for Brussels Environment and participated to the Smart City Block project on the motivation and governance for pooling resources in existing city blocks in Brussels. She is currently working as postdoctoral fellow on the Food4Sustainability project funded by Belgian Science Policy. With the partners to the project (UCL – CPDR and KULeuven – Division of Bioeconomics), she worked first on the role of network bridging organisations in the transition to more sustainable food systems. In the current research phase, she is focusing on the role of values and the potential for transformation of interactions between actors of the regime, organisations from the civil society and local producers.
Email: helene.joachain@ulb.ac.be
François-Xavier Ledru successfully defended his PhD Thesis on 5 September 2023 at the University of Namur (co-supervision with ULB). His research focused on the financial performance of responsible and impact investments, as well as on the behavior of socially-minded economic agents. He worked under the co-supervision of Professor Marek Hudon (ULB) and Professor Oscar Bernal (UNamur). During his PhD, he was also a teaching assistant in econometrics at UNamur. François-Xavier also holds a master’s degree in finance from UNamur. He now works as an ESG Expert at the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), is a lecturer in sustainable finance at UNamur, and remains a scientific fellow at both UNamur and ULB.
Camille Meyer
Camille Meyer successfully defended, on April 21, 2017, his PhD at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (ULB, Brussels) under the supervision of Professor Marek Hudon. His project focuses on microfinance and common goods, particularly focusing on Brazilian community development banks. He obtained a FRESH fellowship from the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS). He carries out his research in the framework of an Interuniversity Attraction Pole funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office under the title "If not for Profit, for What and How?”. Previously, he completed internships at the biggest Brazilian community development bank, Palmas Institute, and at the Facilitator in social economy of the Federal University of Bahia in Brazil. He worked at the International training centre of the International Labour Organization (ILO) organizing the 3rd Social and Solidarity Economy Academy and the 19th Microfinance Training Program of the Boulder Institute of Microfinance. He holds two Masters Degrees in both European and Development studies from the Université libre de Bruxelles, and won two European awards for his dissertation on the Palmas Institute : the 2012 French award for cooperative research on development cooperation and the 2012 Belgian award for research on the social economy.Email: camillemeyer@uvic.ca
Patrick Murhula Cubaka
Patrick Murhula Cubaka holds a PhD in Economics and Management from the Warocqué School of Business and Economics (UMons, Belgium), completed under the joint supervision of Professors Marc Labie (UMons) and Eddy Balemba (UCB). He is a professor in the Economics and Management Department at the Université Catholique de Bukavu (UCB) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a researcher at the Laboratoire d’Économie Appliquée au Développement (LEAD-UCB). His research focuses on financial cooperatives in developing countries, covering key areas such as ownership, governance, membership, growth, and sustainability. Beyond academia, Patrick is a microfinance consultant, specializing in market analysis, product design, governance, and strategic development.
Email: murhula.cubaka@ucbukavu.ac.cd
Rama Lionel Ngenzebuke
Rama Lionel Ngenzebuke successfully defended, on February 21, 2017, his PhD at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (ULB, Brussels) under joint supervision of Prof. Philip Verwimp and Prof. Bram de Rock. He worked on the framework of the FNRS/FRFC research project “Microfinance services, intra-household behavior and welfare in developing countries: a longitudinal and experimental approach”; a project coordinated by Prof. Ariane Szafarz (CERMi), Prof. Marek Hudon (CERMi), Prof. Philp Verwimp (ECARES) and Prof. Bram de Rock (ECARES). He holds a Master’s degree in Economics (specialization: Economic Analysis) from ULB (2011) and a “Licence” degree (4 years) in Economics (specialization: Money, Banking and Finance) from University of Bejaia, Algérie (2007). Prior to undertaking his master studies at ULB, he worked in Burundi at an insurance company as junior economist and at University of Burundi as a teacher and research assistant.
Email: ngenzeramajlionel@yahoo.fr
Ephrem Niyongabo
Ephrem Niyongabo successfully defended his PhD Thesis in Economics and Management on January 12th, 2011, at the Warocqué School of Business and Economics (University of Mons - UMONS).
He joined the World Bank since February 15, 2018 as Economist for Burundi based in Bujumbura, within the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment (MTI) Global Practice, East Africa Unit.
Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked as Expert Advisor to the Board in charge of Monetary Policy and Financial Markets at the Bank of the Republic of Burundi (November 2015 to mid-February 2018); as Senior Research Economist in Private Sector Development, Regional Integration and Trade Policies at the Institute for Economic Development in Burundi (May 2011 and October 2015); and as consultant and researcher for national and international institutions operating in Burundi (e.g. AfDB, UNDP, ACBF, EU, BTCCTB).
He also holds a degree in advanced development studies from University of Liège (Belgium) and a BA in International Economics from University of Bejaia (Algeria). His doctoral research has focused on public policy and microfinance in rural and agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa. His professional experience started in the field of election planning and management as a United Nations Official in Burundi in 2005. His experience with microfinance in the field was set in Burundi where he did research on sustainability of 3 MFIs (FENACOBU, CECM, and COSPEC) and got in touch with the microfinance actors at the macro and meso levels
Email: ephremniyongabo@yahoo.fr
Tel:+257 22 20 62 00
Samuel Anokye Nyarko
Samuel Anokye Nyarko is currently an Assistant Professor at the Montpellier Business School in France. He successfully defended his PhD dissertation on 23rd April 2020. He worked under the joint supervision of Professor Ariane Szafarz (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and Professor Roy Mersland (University of Agder). He worked on the hybridity of microfinance institutions by focusing on performance, subsidization, and internationalization perspectives. He is also interested in corporate governance, institutional logics, and gender issues in microfinance. Samuel holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Agder, Norway, and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He is also an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana. In the prior years, he has served as a teaching assistant for several bachelor and master courses at the University of Agder, and at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Also, Samuel worked as a Deputy Coordinator of Educational Pathways International (EPI), Ghana.
Email: s.nyarko@montpellier-bs.com
Tel.: +33 (0)4 67 10 26 45
Anaïs Périlleux
Anaïs Périlleux is currently doing a postdoctoral research in the Department of Economics/Economic Growth Center at Yale University as a visiting fellow working with Prof. Timothy Guinnane and supported by a fellowship of the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF). She completed her Ph.D. in economic and management as a FNRS Research Fellow at the Warocqué School of Business and Economics (UMONS) under the supervision of Prof. Marc Labie. Her Ph.D. Thesis, titled "Governance and Growth of Cooperatives in Microfinance", has been honored by the "Edgard Milhaud Prize 2012" awarded by the CIRIEC (International Centre of Research and Information on the Public, Social and Cooperative Economy).
Anaïs Périlleux holds a Master Degree in Economics (Université libre de Bruxelles - ULB), and also graduated from the European Microfinance Programme (EMP). For the completion of her academic studies, she worked with a cooperative of cotton producers in South Mali and with a microfinance institution in Calcutta. Other professional engagements included the study of a network of cooperatives in Senegal on behalf of the Belgian NGO, SOS Faim, and the Senegalese farmers movement "FONGS") and a mission in Kinshasa. She also realized multiple field studies in West Africa, especially in Senegal, for her Ph.D. Thesis.
Email: anais.perilleux@uclouvain.be
Luminita Postelnicu
Luminita Postelnicu successfully defended, on January 20, 2016, her PhD at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (ULB, Brussels), under the joint supervision of Professor Ariane Szafarz (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and Professor Niels Hermes (University of Groningen).
She holds a Master Degree in Economics from The Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest (2009), and a Complementary Master Degree in Microfinance from the European Microfinance Programme, Brussels (2011).
Her PhD research, carried out in the field of microfinance, focuses on investigating the impact of social capital on the repayment performance of group lending with joint liability.
Email: luminita.postelnicu@gmail.com
Laure Radermecker
Laure Radermecker successfully defended, on August 28, 2019, her PhD at the University of Mons (Warocqué School of Business and Economics) under the supervision of Prof. Marc Labie (UMONS & ULB, BE). The topic of her PhD was “Contributions of microfinance institutions to a better financial inclusion: an approach by products conceptions and organizational strategies”. She mainly work for her doctoral research on Latin America. She is also interested in rural finance. In 2016, she conducted a four months field research on microfinance investment vehicles in Colombia. At the same time, she is finishing her doctoral school. In October 2016, she graduated from European Microfinance Program. Laure Radermecker has a Master in Business Engineering from the Université de Mons. Her first experience with microfinance was during an internship in 2015 at the economics department of Kennesaw State University, Georgia, where she worked as a research assistant in the macroeconomics and finance area, working on financial inclusion and its impacts on economic growth.
Email: laure.radermecker@umons.ac.be
Tel.: +32 65/37.32.79
Patrick Reichert
Patrick Reichert is currently the Associate Director of the elea Center for Social Innovation at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. His current research streams span the spectrum of capital, focusing on how financial innovation can accelerate the speed, scale, and effectiveness of promising social innovations.
Patrick’s research has been published in several internationally recognized scholarly journals including the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Social Enterprise Journal, Perspectives on Public Management & Governance, and Oxford Development Studies.
He successfully defended his PhD dissertation on 3 July 2018 at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (ULB, Brussels) under the joint supervision of Professors Ariane Szafarz and Marek Hudon. Patrick’s PhD research was carried out within the framework of an Interuniversity Attraction Pole funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office under the title "If not for Profit, for What and How?”. His PhD dissertation was highly commended in the finance category of the 2018 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards, and his paper in Oxford Development Studies was awarded the Sanjaya Lall Prize for Best Paper of the previous two years (2017-2018).
Patrick has previously worked in several areas of finance from private banking to development finance. He also worked for a social enterprise in India, helping the company grow from 10 employees to more than 500 in just over two years while also securing financing from private and public sector donors and commercial investors to help move the organization from startup to scale-up.
Patrick has a master’s degree in microfinance from Solvay and an undergraduate degree in finance from Boston University Questrom School of Business.
Email: patrick.j.reichert@gmail.com
Ariane Reyns successfully defended her PhD Thesis at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, on May 2, 2024, under the supervision of Pr. Marek Hudon (ULB, BE) and Pr. K. Schoors (UGent, BE). She started in October 2020 as a teaching assistant for advanced corporate finance courses. Since February 2021, she’s pursuing her research with a 2x2 FRESH grant from the FNRS. Her topics of interest are economic resilience and complementary currencies. More specifically, her Ph.D. dissertation aims at understanding the resilience potential of complementary currencies, and on a smaller level, the driving factors behind the use of such currencies. Ariane graduated from the ULB with the Research Master in Economics degree and holds a bachelor’s degree in applied economics from the VUB.Email: Ariane.Reyns@ulb.be
Jessica Schicks
Jessica Schicks successfully defended her PhD Thesis in Economics and Management at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université Libre de Bruxelles, academic year 2012/2013. Continuing in line with her previous research on the double bottom line character of the inclusive finance industry, her doctoral research has focused on the over-indebtedness of microfinance customers from a perspective of customer protection. In addition to publishing her PhD papers in highly recognized academic journals and in a peer-reviewed book, Jessica has published a practitioner-oriented report on her over-indebtedness research with the Center for Financial Inclusion and has co-authored a CGAP Occasional Paper with Richard Rosenberg.
She also holds a Masters level degree in Economics and Management (University of Witten/Herecke, Germany) and earned an MPhil in Development Studies from Cambridge, UK. Her work experience covers a broad range of topics, including microfinance work with KfW, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, and an Opportunity International MFI in Ghana. Since 2007, Jessica worked as an international banking consultant with McKinsey & Company, focusing on commercial banking for retail and corporate customers as well as inclusive finance.
Following her PhD, Jessica continued her efforts for protecting the customers of MFIs by taking over management responsibility in the field and worked for Accesbank Zambia (AB Bank) as their Chief Operations Officer for 3 years. After a short transitioning period at LFS Consulting, the microfinance consulting branch of AccessHolding, Jessica joined the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) as a Senior Investment Officer in their financial instutions team, bringing debt and equity funding to banks and microfinance institutions in Africa and taking over board mandates.
Email: jschicks@uni-wh.de
Ritha Sukadi Mata
Ritha Sukadi Mata successfully defended her PhD Thesis in Management Sciences on April 30th, 2012, at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (Université libre de Bruxelles - ULB). She had undertaken a PhD on "Microfinance and Remittances" and she has occupied a position as teaching assistant at the SBS-EM.
After her PhD., she joined ADE SA., one of Europe’s leading evaluation consultancies. She has been particularly involved in strategic evaluations of private sector development and development finance.
She currently works as a freelance evaluation expert and private sector consultant. She is also a visiting professor in DRC universities. Her previous work experience includes microfinance work with the Luxemburgish Non-profit organization ADA (Appui au développement autonome), the microfinance network PlaNet Finance, and field missions in Ecuador (TRIAS and Fundacion MARCO), Burkina-Faso (CIF and ADA) and Mali (PASECA-Kayes and Phillipson Foundation).
Email: rithasukadi@hotmail.com
Ludovic Urgeghe
Ludovic Urgeghe studied Economics and Management at the Warocqué School of Business and Economics of the University of Mons. After having worked for one year for a major auditing company, Ludovic came back at UMONS and started a PhD under the supervision of prof. Marc Labie, and has been his teaching assistant at the Department of Management for five years. He also successfully graduated from the European Microfinance Programme, and was a permanent researcher at the Center for European Research in Microfinance. His research, situated in the context of microfinance commercialization, aimed at exploring the influence of emerging specialized investment vehicles on the financial and social performances of microfinance institutions.
After having successfully defended his PhD thesis, Ludovic took a different turn and is now a Business Development Advisor for the University of Mons at the Research Support and Technology Transfer Department where he helps researchers in the commercialization process of their technologies.
Email: Ludovic.Urgeghe@umons.ac.be