Ezra Suruma (born 11 November 1945) is a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n economist, banker, and academician. He became the chancellor of

Makerere University Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...

in January 2016. He formerly served as a senior adviser to the

president of Uganda The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The President (government title), president leads the Executive (government), executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander- ...

on finance and economic planning, a position he held from 16 February 2009 until 15 January 2016. Previously, he was a visiting fellow at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

, in

Washington, D. C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, at the Africa Growth Initiative division of the institution. He was appointed to that position in April 2010.

Background and education

He was born in

Kabale District Kabale District is a district in the Western Region of Uganda. Kabale hosts the district headquarters. It was originally part of Kigezi District, before the districts of Rukungiri, Kanungu, Kisoro, Rubanda and Rukiga were excised to form sepa ...

in 1945. He holds a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in finance from

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

in New York City, obtained in 1969. His

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in economics was obtained in 1972, also from Fordham University. His

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in economics was obtained in 1976 from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. He also has a master's degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and one in international banking.

Career

Before entering government service and the private sector, Suruma was a professor of economics and management at

and at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

. In 1987, he joined the

Bank of Uganda The Bank of Uganda () is the central bank of Uganda. Established in 1966, by Act of Parliament, the bank is wholly owned by the government but is not a government department. History In 1979 and again in 1987, the Bank of Uganda managed to ma ...

, the country's

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

, as the director of research, serving in that capacity until 1990. From 1990 until 1993, he served as the deputy governor of the Bank of Uganda. In 1993, he left that position and joined the

Uganda Commercial Bank Uganda Commercial Bank Ltd (UCB/UCBL) was a Ugandan government-owned bank, and the largest financial institution in the country. In 2001 the bank was privatised and merged into Stanbic Bank (Uganda) Limited. History Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB) w ...

as the chairman and managing director, serving in that capacity until 1996. In 2005, he was appointed minister of finance, planning and economic development. He served in that capacity until 16 February 2009, when he was appointed senior presidential adviser on finance and economic planning. The international banking magazine

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by '' The Financial Times'' and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding editor Brendan ...

chose Suruma to receive the "Best Finance Minister of Africa Award" for 2008. During his time as

minister of finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

, he was a strong promoter of Uganda's banking industry and was instrumental in the planning and initiation of Uganda's micro finance project that helps small farmers and businesses obtain low interest loans.

Personal details

Suruma is married and has four children, the eldest from his first marriage, and one grandchild. He is also raising the orphaned children of his two younger brothers. He was a shareholder in the National Bank of Commerce (Uganda) (NCBU), and was a director of the bank. NBCU was a small indigenous commercial bank that was closed by the Bank of Uganda on 27 September 2012. In 2011, Suruma and other investors started UGAFODE Microfinance Limited, a Tier III, deposit-taking microfinance institution, supervised by the Bank of Uganda.

References

External links

Profile of Professor Ezra Suruma
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suruma, Ezra 1945 births Living people Fordham University alumni Florida A&M University faculty University of Connecticut alumni Academic staff of Makerere University Ugandan economists People from Kabale District Ministers of finance of Uganda Government ministers of Uganda