Paul Collier

Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at Oxford University. He is also associate professor at the Center for Studies and Research in International Development (CERDI) at the University of Auvergne, and at Paris 1 University. Paul Collier is the author of The Bottom Billion, a book widely-acclaimed by both the press and his peers, and is an internationally-recognized academic. He has written several articles on access to finance in African countries. After leading the World Bank Development Research Group for several years, Paul Collier was appointed head of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University. His article helps us place the issue of financing African SMEs in the context of the current global financial crisis.