Santiago is the Deputy Country Director for the Ghana office of Innovations for Poverty Action, a research and policy non-profit that specializes in impact evaluations of social projects around the world, and is responsible for its entrepreneurship and financial inclusion project portfolio. In this role, he has led the evaluation of private and public projects aimed at increasing the human capacity of MSMEs, and their access to markets and finance. Santiago has developed deep and fruitful relationships with the implementing institutions of these projects, which include private banks, private companies, NGOs, the World Bank and the relevant government institutions in the sector, including the Ghana Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ghana Ministry of Business Development.

Previously, Santiago has worked in academia, coordinating the Dept of Economic Research and Analysis at University Carlos III in Madrid; finance, at the Research and Economic Analysis Dept of one of Spain’s largest banks; and project management and evaluation, for EuropeAid projects in Brussels and for UN agencies including UNHCR and UNFPA.