NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Akolade Oladipupo, PhD (Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Coordinator, LEAP Africa) is a research, insights and learning professional and scholar-practitioner working at the intersection of  evidence generation, social entrepreneurship, and development practice in Africa. He currently serves as Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Coordinator at LEAP Africa, where he conducts evaluations, needs assessments and learning systems for programmes supporting social innovators, youth enterprises and impact-driven organisations across multiple African countries. Akolade’s work focuses on translating rigorous, utilisation-focused evaluation and investor-readiness evidence into practical insights that strengthen enterprise support models, funding pathways and ecosystem effectiveness. He has led and contributed to multi-country studies on social entrepreneurship, impact investing and youth-led enterprises, and regularly engages ecosystem stakeholders and policymakers on designing support systems that enable social ventures to build resilience, sustainability and long-term impact.