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Biography
Dr. Mesia John Ilomo is a Lecturer and Researcher at the Department of Finance, University of Dar es Salaam Business School (UDBS), Tanzania. He holds a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he also studied the Master of International Trade and Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting). Dr. Ilomo has more than 15 years of teaching, research, and consultancy experience. He was a visiting scholar in Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pretoria, Research fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and Copenhagen Business School, and fellow at the United Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Dr. Ilomo's research, teaching, and consultancy services centre around development finance, regional integration, trade facilitation, business and trade negotiations, trade in services, agribusiness, macro and sectoral policies, waste management, and gender. Dr. Ilomo has provided consultancy and advisory services to various local and international institutions, ranging from the public, private, and civil society sectors. Dr. Ilomo is a Certified Trainer of International Trade Centre - Trade Map and Market Access Map. He is trained in qualitative and quantitative research approaches (especially using NVivo, STATA, and SmartPLS), Theory of Change (ToC), Systematic Reviews, and Eco-Industrial Parks. Dr. Ilomo serves as the Coordinator of Research and Publications at the University of Dar es Salaam Business School. He is the former coordinator of UDSM Silversands Hotel, former coordinator of Research and Projects at the Department of Finance, former examination Officer at the Department of Finance, former member of excom of Postdoc Fellow Forum at the University of Pretoria, and former country Coordinator of UNCTAD Virtue Institute, Tanzania.
Research Interest
Development Finance
Policy Studies
Gender and Business/Trade
Agribusiness
Regional Integration
International trade
Contacts
Email:
Projects
inSALSA – Increasing Sustainability of Agribiologicals by Living Labs in sub-Saharan Africa, 2025 – 2028, Funded by Biodiversa through SLU, Principal Investigator, Tanzania
Advancement and adaptation of agricultural biologicals to meet sub-Saharan Africa smallholder farmers' needs and build sustainable food systems (AgBio4SSA), 2024 – 2027, Funded by COSTECH, Principal Investigator, Tanzania
Scaling Grassroots innovations for Zero Waste Cities– A global collaboration between low, low-middle and middle-income countries. This was a collaborative project involving researchers from Tanzania, Sweden, Kenya and Argentina, 2022 – 2023, Funded by Formas, Project Member
Publications
Ilomo, M., & Charles, G. (2025). Financing grassroots initiatives in solid waste management: benchmarking the Tanzanian experience against international practices. Environmental Research Communications, 7(1), 015012.
Mweke, A., Alexandersson, E., Mulugeta, T., Ilomo, M., Kritzinger, Q., Matsuanyane, L., & Onyango, C. (2025). Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) Analysis of Agricultural Biologicals among 1 Smallholder Farmers across Three Counties in Kenya. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 101614.
Ilomo, M. (2024). Assessing the Potential for Tanzanian Exports in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Business Management Review, 27(2), 108-130.
Magai, P. S., & Ilomo, M. (2024). Revisiting the effect of the EAC customs union on intra-regional trade performance: does it only matter for exports? Cogent Economics & Finance, 12(1), 2363458.
Ishengoma, E. K., & Ilomo, M. J. (2024). Firm Attributes, Women Top Managers, and Entrepreneurial Outcomes in a Private Sector in Tanzania. In Understanding Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Venture-Ship Approach (pp. 71-95). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Mulugeta, T., Ilomo, M., Mueke, A., Onyango, C., Matsaunyane, L., Kritzinger, Q., & Alexandersson, E. (2024). Smallholder farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding agricultural inputs with a focus on agricultural biologicals. Heliyon.
Ilomo, M., & Mwantimwa, K. (2023). Entrepreneurial Intentions of Undergraduate Students: the Moderating Role of Entrepreneurial Knowledge. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Knowledge, 11(1), 14-34.
Mwantimwa, K., Ilomo, M., Mwabungulu, E., Mbilinyi, D., Possi, M., Matonya, M. (2022), Graduates’ future intention to venture into entrepreneurial business: the foreseen personal, sectoral and macro barriers, Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 1-13
Ilomo, M., Rutashobya, L.K., Ishengoma, E.K., Pettersson, K. & Bergman Lodin, J (2021) Doing and undoing gender in rice business and marketplaces in Tanzania, Cogent Social Sciences, 7:1, DOI: 10.1080/23311886.2021.1934981
Rutashobya L.K., Chiwona-Karltun L., Wilson M., Ilomo M., Semkunde M. (2021) Gender and Rural Entrepreneurship in Digitizing Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Abugre J.B., L.C. Osabutey E., P. Sigué S. (eds) Business in Africa in the Era of Digital Technology. Advances in Theory and Practice of Emerging Markets. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70538-1_5