Economist, Lecturer, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Sierra Leone
Dr. Yakama Manty Jones (née Mara) is an economist currently serving as the Director of Research and Delivery at the Ministry of Finance in Sierra Leone. As a sought-after consultant, Dr. Jones also lends her expertise to a variety of agencies focused on development, finance, international business, economic policy, and project management.
She is on the faculty of the Department of Economics and Commerce at Fourah Bay College, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree with honors in Economics at the age of nineteen. She has also earned post-graduate qualifications from the University of Manchester and the University of London (Queen Mary & Westfield College, Birkbeck College).
As an entrepreneur, Dr. Jones co-founded the Peninsular Innovative Group (PI Group) with her husband Herbert Durosimi Jones. The PI Group is an indigenous company operating across the shipping, manufacturing and agri-business industries in Sierra Leone, which prioritizes working with and empowering youth and women-owned businesses.
In 2016, Dr. Jones founded the Yak Jones Foundation. Promoting child literacy through reading, comprehension and quiz competitions, nationwide book clubs, and donating mobile libraries to schools in remote areas of Sierra Leone. The foundation has directly impacted thousands of children in Sierra Leone.
Dr. Jones, named one of the 50 Most Influential Young Sierra Leoneans, also features on the 100 Women in West Africa list. A TEDx speaker, she has also been invited to give talks locally and internationally by organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, and the World Bank on topics aligned with her research interests including education, entrepreneurship, human capital development, service delivery, and more.
Committed to lifelong learning and education, Dr. Jones has pursued executive training programs at the Harvard Kennedy School and mentors other young professionals.
Dr. Jones is also a mother of two lovely daughters, Hedya-Gold and Hedsania-Silver Jones.
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