Julius Gwyer
Program Officer, Development Finance, The World Bank Group
Julius Gwyer is Program Officer in Development Finance, where he helps foster the development of new and innovative financial products and services to increase the mobilization of private and public financial resources. His recent engagements include with the global investor forum ahead of the G20 in Argentina, building partnerships with institutional investors and other large asset managers, and coordination with the UN’s Interagency Task for on Financing for Development.
Previously he supported for the President's Special Envoy with leading the World Bank Group's international engagements on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their means of implementation. He has worked with World Economic Forum and was secretary to the high-level panel of experts reviewing Doing Business, as well as the World Bank Group’s Financing for Development committee.
Previously he worked in the World Bank and IFC leadership teams on knowledge and learning; established the World Bank Group’s web governance model; led an online community of practice with 30,000 members on the topic of development effectiveness and conducted evaluations of the World Bank Group's strategies and programs in Poland, India, the Philippines, Nepal and Mexico. Prior to joining the Bank, he was an executive officer for the British government. He has authored numerous op-eds and articles. Mr. Gwyer earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and public administration at the University of London. He has an MBA in international business from the University of Glasgow and has taken executive education training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Outside of work he is a keen photographer and world traveler.
Hans Peter Lankes
Vice President, Economics and Private Sector Development, International Finance Corporation
Hans Peter Lankes is IFC’s Vice President of Economics and Private Sector Development. In this capacity, Mr. Lankes is responsible for ensuring that IFC’s strategies and projects have a consistent focus on development results. He also provides independent economic analysis and oversight to all IFC’s operations and ensures coordination with the World Bank and other international financial institutions on private sector development issues.
A German national, Mr. Lankes previously served as the Managing Director of Corporate Strategy at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He was also a member of the EBRD’s Executive Committee. As Managing Director, he advised the EBRD President on the institution’s strategy and was responsible for designing and achieving shareholder support for its priorities. He also led the EBRD’s expansion into the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region.
Previously, Mr. Lankes served as the EBRD’s Acting Chief Economist, reorganizing the department into the bank’s research hub. As Acting Vice President for Policy from 2012 to 2013 and again in late 2014, he established the department as a focal point for the in-country delivery of policy reforms.
Prior to joining the EBRD in 2007, Hans Peter worked at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., where he was Chief of the Trade Division and Adviser in the Policy Development and Review Department. His earlier career includes positions at the Central American Business School, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Economy, and the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce, before a first period of employment at the EBRD between 1993 and 2000.
Mr. Lankes holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, as well as economics degrees from Albert Ludwigs Universität Freiburg and Université de Grenoble.
Jessica Erickson Stiefler
Underwriter, MIGA
Prior to joining MIGA in March 2018, Jessica was Senior Director of Project Finance at Excelerate Energy where she structured complex commercial transactions and financings for floating LNG regasification (FSRUs), gas-to-power, FLNG, and other LNG infrastructure projects.
From 2006-2014, Jessica was a Project Finance Manager at AES, a global power company, where she structured and executed leveraged debt and derivatives transactions for power projects around the globe, including battery storage.
A US national, Jessica is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds an MA in International Trade and Investment Policy from the George Washington University Elliott School and a BA in Economics from Williams College.
Jay Collins
Vice Chairman, Corporate and Investment Banking, Citi
Mr. Collins served as Chief Executive Officer of Public Sector Group at Citigroup Inc. since March 2005. He served as the Head of Central and Eastern Europe, India, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA), Global Banking at Citigroup until March 2005. He was Deputy Head in Nikko Citigroup's Investment Banking Division, where he was responsible for integrating the second-largest Japanese investment bank with Citigroup's global business. Mr. Collins also served as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Head of Investment Banking for the Latin America Region and was in charge of Government Relations for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the largest international think tank in the U.S. He serves as the Chairman the Global Infrastructure Steering Committee at Citigroup and also serves as its Member of the Global Banking Operating Committee. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Chairman of the U.S.-Pakistan Business Council. He is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bretton Woods Committee, the International Policy Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Advisory Board at the U.A.E.’s Securities and Commodities Authority. Mr. Collins earned a Master of Science in Foreign Service, International Relations and Affairs from Georgetown University’s from 1986 to 1989 and holds Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Government from Colorado College from 1982 to 1986.
Sir Suma Chakrabarti
President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Sir Suma Chakrabarti, born in 1959 in West Bengal, India, is the sixth President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The EBRD's Board of Governors re-elected Sir Suma as President of the Bank for a second four-year term in 2016. He began his first term in 2012, having replaced Thomas Mirow.
Sir Suma has extensive experience in international development economics and policy-making, as well as in designing and implementing wider public service reform.
Before arriving at the EBRD, he held the position of Permanent Secretary at the British Ministry of Justice and was its most senior civil servant. Prior to this, from 2002, he headed the UK’s Department for International Development (formerly the Overseas Development Administration (ODA)) where he worked closely with economies undergoing substantial reform in eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East and North Africa. Sir Suma is notable for playing a key role developing the UK's successful Know-How Fund for Central and Eastern Europe and worked with the European Commission in improving its programmes in the Middle East and North Africa.
Sir Suma also worked in the late 1990s in the UK Treasury, where he was responsible for UK public expenditure, and in the early 2000s in the Cabinet Office, where he led on cross-departmental strategic issues and subsequently the management of the Cabinet agenda.
After studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford, Sir Suma took a Masters in Development Economics at the University of Sussex. He also holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Sussex and East Anglia and the Bucharest University of Economic Sciences.
Vipul Bhagat
Chief Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation
Mr. Vipul Bhagat, Chief Investment Officer in the Public-Private Partnership Advisory Services Department in Washington, DC has relocated after living in Asia over the past 10 years. Most recently, he was Regional Leader for PPP Advisory Services in South Asia, (based in India) where he successfully launched and grew significantly the business advising governments in the region on PPPs in infrastructure and social sectors and facilitating investment flows for projects.
Mr. Bhagat has been engaged in extensive operational work in infrastructure portfolio, advisory activities, financial sector investments, private sector investment banking, consulting and finance operations. Previously, he was also Country Manager for the Philippines (based in Manila) and Thailand. Mr. Bhagat has worked in Asia (where he lived in Hong Kong), Middle East and North Africa regions investing primarily in financial institutions.
He holds a masters degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from the American University, Washington, D.C. He is also a designated chartered financial analyst, and a certified public accountant.
Richard Abadie
Partner and Global Leader of Capital Projects & Infrastructure, PwC
Richard leads PwC’s global capital projects and infrastructure group which provides advice on the whole infrastructure lifecycle. Additionally, he is currently working on transport and energy projects across Europe with a particular focus on raising debt and equity from traditional and new sources of finance. He has led transaction advisory projects across Europe, Africa and North America. The infrastructure group has led advice on over $120 bn of successfully closed project finance deals over the last 12 years. He previously led the PPP policy team in the UK Treasury and worked for an infrastructure developer and toll road operator.
