Dr. Abiodun Adetokunbo, a lecturer in the Department of Economics at Augustine University, Epe, has been awarded Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) exploratory research grant worth GBP 5,000 following his participation in the 2025 PEDL (Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries) Young Scholars Matchmaking Workshop held at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

The workshop, which took place from March 18 to 22, 2025, brought together early-career researchers to collaborate on innovative research ideas targeted at economic development in low-income countries. Dr. Adetokunbo, alongside two other scholars (Alberto Matamoros and Ephrem Tadesse), developed and refined a research proposal during the in-person sessions, which later earned them the competitive grant.

The exploratory grant will serve as seed funding to conduct pilot studies and facilitate travel to the study area. The team aims to use the findings to prepare a robust proposal for a larger-scale research project. The grant officially commences on June 1, 2025.

Dr. Adetokunbo’s project will focus on identifying market failures in the adoption of energy-efficient technologies among Injera bakeries in Ethiopia. Specifically, the study will examine how credit constraints, information asymmetry, and behavioral inertia hinder technology uptake among informal enterprises