MENA's 2025 update spotlighted private sector reforms as catalysts for jobs, resilience, and shared prosperity.

Dr. Omar Razzaz is the former Prime Minister of Jordan (2018-2020) and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Initiative (MEI) at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a Board Member ...

Prior to joining the School of Global Policy and Strategy, Freund served as global director of Trade, Investment and Competitiveness at the World Bank. Freund also served as a senior fellow at the ...

Ousmane Dione is currently the World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa where he leads the Bank's work to provide critical support to region's countries in the face of complex, ...

Naledi Madala is a Senior Policy Advisor in Botswana’s Ministry of Finance responsible for advising the Minister and Senior officials with fact-based economic and financial policy analysis to support ...

Mr. Muhammad Aurangzeb assumed the role of Minister responsible for Finance and Revenue in the Federal cabinet of the Government of Pakistan in March 2024. Prior to this responsibility, Mr. Aurangzeb ...

Tharman Shanmugaratnam was elected as Singapore’s President in September 2023. He served in politics for 22 years before resigning to contest in the Presidential Election. He was Deputy Prime Minister ...

Ajay Banga is the President of the World Bank Group, beginning his five-year term on June 2, 2023. He stepped into the role with a clear mandate: to transform the 80-year-old institution into a faster ...

Axel van Trotsenburg is the World Bank’s Senior Managing Director (SMD), responsible for Development Policy and Partnerships. Read more Read more ...

President Samia Suluhu Hassan became the sixth President of the United Republic of Tanzania in March 2021, following the death of President John Magufuli. She served as Vice President of Tanzania from ...

Mr. Ethiopis Tafara is Vice President & Chief Finance, Risk, Legal and Sustainability Officer for the World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). He joined MIGA in September ...