Dr. Sophia Chiremba Anong is an associate professor of consumer economics at the University of Georgia. She holds a BS from the Africa University in Zimbabwe, an MS in agricultural economics, and a PhD in family and consumer economics, both from Purdue University in the USA.  Dr. Anong was on the faculty at Virginia Tech from 2006 to 2010 and at the University of Georgia since 2010. 

She is an experienced mentor of both undergraduate and graduate students and teaches undergraduate courses in consumer economics and financial planning. She also teaches a graduate-level research methods course and directs an interdisciplinary remote research lab. 

Dr. Anong’s research focuses on consumer and household economic well-being, with respect to mobile money in African countries and fintech in the USA. Current projects include a randomized evaluation of employing more female mobile money agents in rural Ghana and the impact of contactless payments on consumers and small businesses in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Near future research includes consumer protection in digital finance for less sophisticated consumers in Africa and digitization outcomes for microentrepreneurs and small-scale farmers.

Dr. Anong has published in several outlets including the Handbook of Consumer Finance Research, International Journal of Consumer Studies, the Journal of Consumer Affairs, and the International Journal of Bank Marketing. Dr. Anong is a Fulbright Specialist, received a Global Research Collaboration Grant from the University of Georgia, and has secured various funding sources to support collaborative research.