Victor Ekpu

Victor Ekpu, Ph.D.

Victor Ekpu, Ph.D. is currently an Associate Manager at Accenture Research in London, where he specializes in corporate innovation strategy with a focus on economic modeling and data analytics.3 Prior to his role at Accenture, he worked as a Research Fellow at the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC), based at the University of Warwick.24

Ekpu holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Glasgow, where his doctoral thesis investigated the "Microstructure of Bank Lending to SMEs" in Nigeria.15 His research interests include small business finance, relationship banking, and economic development.

Some of Ekpu's key contributions include:

• Conducting a survey of loan officers in Nigerian banks to examine demand and supply side constraints to SME lending1
• Analyzing the determinants of loan contract terms such as risk premium and collateralization1
• Investigating the economic value of relationship lending based on soft information accumulation by loan officers1
• Providing insights to stakeholders in the SME lending market, including policymakers, bankers, and small business borrowers1

Ekpu's research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences. He continues to contribute to the understanding of SME finance and economic development through his work at Accenture Research and collaborations with the Enterprise Research Centre.234