Dr. Vera Songwe

Vera Songwe is a Cameroonian economist, banking executive, and global development leader. She is best known as the first woman to head the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) at the level of Under-Secretary-General, a role she held from 2017 to 2022. She has also held senior positions at the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and currently serves as a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative.

Early Life & Education

• Birthplace: Cameroon

• Undergraduate: Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science – University of Michigan, USA

• Graduate Studies:

  • Master of Arts in Law and Economics – Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

  • Diplôme d’études approfondies in Economic Science and Politics – Université Catholique de Louvain

  • Ph.D. in Mathematical Economics – Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE), Belgium

Her academic training gave her a strong foundation in economics, law, and political science, enabling her to bridge policy, finance, and governance.

Career Journey

• Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis: Early career experience, combined with a visiting professorship at the University of Southern California.

• World Bank (1998–2015):

  • Worked in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) unit, covering Morocco and Tunisia.

  • Later held roles in East Asia and the Pacific region.

  • In 2010, part of the team that raised US$49.3 billion in concessional financing for low-income countries under IDA’s 16th replenishment.

• International Finance Corporation (2011–2017):

  • Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

  • Country Director for Senegal, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Mauritania.

  • Focused on fiscal policy, innovative financing, agriculture, energy, and governance.

• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (2017–2022):

  • Appointed Executive Secretary at the level of Under-Secretary-General.

  • Advocated for African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) implementation, fiscal reforms, and digital transformation.

  • Resigned in August 2022.

• Brookings Institution (Current):

  • Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Africa Growth Initiative, contributing to research and policy dialogue on Africa’s economic development.

Recognition & Influence

• Forbes (2013): Listed among the 20 Young Power Women in Africa.

• Institut Choiseul (2014): Named one of Africa’s Leaders of Tomorrow.

• Tony Elumelu Foundation (2015): Collaborated on the $100 million entrepreneurship programme for African startups.

• Global Engagements:

  • Member of the African Union Institutional Reform Team (led by President Paul Kagame).

  • Board member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, African Leadership Network, and ID4Africa.

  • Appointed by the G20 (2021) to the High-Level Independent Panel on financing global commons for pandemic preparedness, co-chaired by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and Lawrence Summers.

Key Interests

• Fiscal policy and debt sustainability

• Innovative financing mechanisms for development

• Agriculture and energy policy

• Economic governance and digital transformation

• Gender equality and closing the tech gender gap

Quick Facts