Shelton Joao is a Mozambican PhD Fellow at UNU-MERIT / Maastricht University. His research focuses on how digital connectivity and innovation capabilities shape structural transformation and economic upgrading in developing economies.
His research examines how digital connectivity can support productive capability accumulation, export diversification, and upgrading into more complex economic activities. His PhD project combines innovation economics, economic complexity, and development economics, using cross-country panel data, international trade statistics, and digital connectivity indicators.
Before joining UNU-MERIT, Shelton completed a Master’s degree in Economic Development at Ritsumeikan University in Japan, where his research focused on renewable energy policy effectiveness across African countries. He also worked for four years at Vodacom Mozambique in procurement and supply chain management, gaining practical experience with telecommunications infrastructure, technology adoption, supplier coordination, and private-sector development in a developing-country context.
His broader interests include structural transformation, technology diffusion, sustainable development, African economies, and the role of innovation capabilities in shaping long-term development trajectories.