Vera Songwe appointed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa ⁰

Vera Songwe has been appointed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to his country’s highly prestigious Economic Advisory Council. This is an advisory body responsible for proposing guidelines on issues of openness to the ecosystem of members, employability and entrepreneurship, as well as societal issues.

The renowned Cameroonian holds a doctorate in mathematical economics, a Master of Arts in law and economics and a postgraduate diploma in economic and political sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. She also holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Dr Vera Songwe is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, co-chair of the high-level panel on climate finance appointed by the UK and Egyptian governments alongside Lord Nick Stern. She is the former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

She has led many efforts to bring greater prosperity to Africa. She has worked with African heads of government, finance ministers and central bank governors, international organisations and the private sector on macroeconomic stability, monetary policy, financial innovation and inclusive growth, economic integration and trade, and private sector development.

She is a globally recognised and respected leader and has provided policy advice to many continental and institutional leaders worldwide. Previously, Dr. Songwe was Regional Director of the International Finance Corporation, covering West and Central Africa. She oversaw a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio in energy, transport, manufacturing and technology. She has also held a number of positions at the World Bank, including Country Director and 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 scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota and the University of Southern California. Dr Songwe was named African Icon of the Year in 2022 by the African Bankers Association for her work on SDRs, inflation, debt management and domestic resource mobilisation. She was named one of the ‘100 Most Influential Africans’ by Jeune Afrique in 2021 as well as the top 50 most influential African women by Forbes magazine in 2019 and one of the 25 Africans to Watch by the Financial Times.

By Rita Akana