Ben is a political economist researching energy, mining and labour in the context of green transitions, with a regional focus on Africa and Asia-Pacific. More broadly, he's interested in processes of late industrialisation and structural transformation in the global South. He also writes on the history, theory and praxis of development and development studies.

Ben currently holds a Leverhulme Research Fellowship, leading a comparative study of the labour and value chain dynamics associated with renewable energy expansion in Rwanda and Papua New Guinea. He's also involved as a collaborator on African Extractivism and the Green Transition, a six-year project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to investigate the political economy dynamics of critical raw material extraction in the DR Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Lastly, he's part of a research consortium exploring the entanglements of wealth and value in the global lithium-ion battery chain, with a focus on China, Chile, and the DR Congo.

Ben is a member of the Editorial Working Group for the Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE), a Working Group Coordinator for the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy, and an affiliated member of the Centre of Mining Research at the Catholic University of Bukavu, DR Congo. He also collaborates closely with the African Center of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development at the University of Rwanda and the Centre of Renewable Energy at the University of Papua New Guinea.

Before joining the University of Bath, Ben was a Fellow in Development Studies at the Department of International Development, London School of Economics. Ben has a doctorate in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies and a MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

Some Stuff to Read, Watch or Listen To

In 2025, we plan to release a virtual walking tour to celebrate Black history and culture in Bath. Watch this space!

In 2024, I co-edited Voices for African Liberation, which you can order here (or read the first chapter here).

In 2023, I published Disrupted Development in the Congo, which you can order here (or read the first three chapters here).

In 2022, I co-produced The Why Africa Podcast with colleague Dr Cynthia Kamwengo, which you can listen to here or here.

In 2018-19, photographer Robert Carrubba and I ran a photo exhibition in the DRC and Europe, which you can see here.

In 2015, I co-produced the feature-length documentary We Will Win Peace, which you can watch here.

PhD Supervision

I’m interested in supervising PhD students working on mining, energy, and/or labour in the context of green transitions in Africa and/or Asia-Pacific, as well as more broadly on processes of late industrialisation and economic transformation in the global South.