Edward Bbaale is a Professor of Economics and holds a PhD in Economics, M.A. Economic Policy and Planning and B.A. Economics. He is currently the Director of Research and Graduate Training and EfD-Mak Centre which is part of the Global Network of Environmental Economics Research Centres supported by Sida. He is the immediate former Dean of the School of Economics at Makerere University, a position he held for two consecutive terms. With support from Sida, Edward is the Lead Person at Makerere University for the Inclusive Green Economy (IGE) Capacity Development Program for Senior Civil Servants and Policy Makers.

Edward is a Coordinator at Makerere University under the University Network for Strengthening Macrofinancial Resilience to Climate and Environmental Change. With support from the World Bank and the government of Uganda, Edward is the Principal Investigator/Director of the Public Investment Management Centre of Excellence (PIM CoE) at Makerere University. Connected to this agenda, Edward has been trained in Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis Program of Queens University-Canada. Prior to that, Edward served as a Graduate Programmes Coordinator for the School of Economics from 2012 to 2013. He has very rich hands-on experience in economics research with a bias towards development microeconomics for enterprises and households. He was in 2017 awarded post-doc scholarship by the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education & Research (OeAD-GmbH) to undertake research at the Vienna Institute of International Economic Studies (wiiw) in Vienna-Austria. He was in 2013 nominated as a Visiting Fellow for the Journal of African Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, UK. He was in 2010 nominated for the Visiting Research Fellow Position at the Centre for Global Development in Washington D.C. USA. He was in 2019 appointed a Chairperson of the Governing Council of Kampala Polytechnic-Mengo. He was in 2021 appointed a Member of the University Council at Muteesa I Royal University. He was in 2021 appointed Member of the National Task Force on the Enhancement of Labour Productivity. He is an External Examiner at Kyambogo University, University of Malawi, University of Zambia, University of Namibia, National University of Lesotho, Kenyatta University, University of Dar es Salaam, and WITS University. He was an External Examiner at the University of Zimbabwe 2015/16-2019/2020. He was a Member of the Expanded Board of the National Planning Authority since 2015-2023. He is a member of Senate of Makerere University and sits on several Senate Committees such as the Admissions Committee among others.

He was a Chairperson of a Special Task Force that developed the Student Work and Employment Scheme Policy at Makerere University. He was a member of the African Economic Research Consortium Academic Advisory Board (2015-2023) in Nairobi, Kenya. He was the Vice Chairperson of Makerere University Deans’ Forum (MUDF). He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Young Economists Network (ECA-YEN).

Edward has authored over 40 papers, published in peer reviewed journals. Two of his papers were voted as Highly Commended Award Winners at Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2012 and 2019 (). At national level, he has implemented a number of policy-relevant research projects with key Government Ministries and Agencies as well as the private sector. For example, he was a co-Principal Investigator of the Mid-term Review of NDP III and End Term Evaluation of NDP II (2022-2023).