Dr Austin Chiumia
Director of the Macroeconomic Management Programme
Dr Austin Chiumia is the MEFMI Director of the Macroeconomic Management Programme, effective 2 March 2026. He brings over twenty-five years of experience in central banking, macroeconomic policy analysis, and capacity development.
Prior to joining MEFMI, he worked for the Reserve Bank of Malawi, rising to the position of Deputy Director in the Economic Policy and Research Department. In this role, he was responsible for macroeconomic policy analysis, monetary and fiscal assessments, external sector analysis, and technical backstopping of IMF-supported programmes. He also briefly served as a Research Manager at the African Economic Research Consortium in Kenya, where he coordinated thematic and collaborative research programmes.
Dr Chiumia is a MEFMI Accredited Fellow in Monetary Policy Management and Macroeconomic Modelling, with extensive experience in regional capacity development across MEFMI, COMESA and African Development Bank member countries. He also serves as a Faculty Member of the Policy Lab Unit under the Public Finance Management Academy for Africa and the Macroeconomic Policy Management Academy for Africa of the African Development Bank’s Training Institute.
A published researcher with contributions in peer-reviewed journals, his areas of expertise include real sector analysis, external sector analysis, inflation dynamics, fiscal policy and monetary policy analysis. His professional work reflects a strong commitment to strengthening macroeconomic management capacity and promoting evidence-based policymaking across Africa.
Dr Chiumia holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Economics from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, obtained in 2017. He also holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics from the University of Malawi.