Council

Vera Songwe is Chair and Founder of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility, member of the G20 Finance Ministers Independent expert Group on MB reform, a visiting senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Co-Chair of the High-Level Expert Panel on Climate Finance nominated by the governments of the UK and Egypt alongside Lord Nick Stern. She is the former United Nations Under-Secretary General and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Songwe has led numerous efforts to bring greater prosperity to Africa. She has worked with African heads of government, Ministers of Finance and Central Bank governors, international organisations and the private sector on macroeconomic stability, monetary policy, financial innovation and inclusion growth, economic integration and trade, and private sector development. Previously, Songwe was the Regional Director of the International Finance Corporation, covering West and Central Africa. She oversaw a multi-billion dollar portfolio of investments in energy, transportation, manufacturing and technology. Prior to this, she held a number of roles at the World Bank, including serving as Country Director, Adviser to the Managing Director for Africa, Europe and Central and South Asia. She spent 10 years of her career working and living in Asia. She joined the World Bank as a Young Professional. Prior to joining the Bank, she was a Visiting Researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota and at the University of Southern California.

She holds a PhD in Mathematical Economics from the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics, a Master of Arts in Law and Economics and a Diplôme d’études approfondies in Economic Science and Politics from Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. She also was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in December of 2022 and holds a B.A. in Economics and Political science, both from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.