Africa’s Road to COP26

In collaboration with Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings.

African countries bear the brunt of climate change while contributing little to it. As the world prepares to meet in Glasgow for the COP26 Summit, what is the African agenda and what would success look like for Africa at COP26?

This high-level panel of African policymakers and development experts will discuss African countries' priorities for Glasgow, both on mitigation and, more importantly, on adaptation and the financing options for a truly green and inclusive recovery in Africa.

• Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale

  Chair, African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change

  Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale is a Special Advisor to His Excellency Ali Bongo Ongo Ondimba, President of the Republic of Gabon, Permanent Secretary of the National Climate Council, and General Director of the Gabonese Agency for Space Studies and Observations (AGEOS). Since January 2020, Mr Gahouma-Bekale is also the Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN), representing the interests of the 54 African countries in the international climate change negotiations, including COP26, with a collective and unified voice.

  Jeanine Mabunda Lioko

  Member of Parliament, Democratic Republic of Congo

  Jeanine Mabunda Lioko is the former President of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She also previously served as the Special Representative to Combat Sexual Violence and Child Soldier Recruitment, Minister of Portfolio & Public Enterprises, and Executive Director of the Fonds de Promotion de l'Industrie (FPI), a public development bank in the DRC. She is currently a Member of Parliament for Bumba, DRC. In 2016, the Foundations of the Prince and Princess of Monaco presented the Better World Award to her office in recognition of the DRC's progress in curbing child soldier recruitment and sexual violence. She also received the 2019 Woman of Influence Award from the Generation Femmes d'Influence organization, based in Paris, France.

  Arunma Oteh

  Academic Scholar, University of Oxford; Climate Finance Expert; Former World Bank Vice President & Treasurer

  Arunma Oteh has been an Academic Scholar at St. Antony's College and an Executive-in-Residence at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, since January 2019. Her research areas of focus are capital markets, economic development and financial technology. She is also a member of the London Stock Exchange Africa Advisory Group. She was previously Treasurer of the World Bank, from September 30th, 2015 to November 30th 2018. As Treasurer, she led a team that manages assets totaling USD200 billion for the World Bank Group, 60 central banks, sovereign wealth funds and other official institutions.

  Vera Songwe

  United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa

  Vera Songwe is an Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and a nonresident senior fellow in the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution. Previously, Songwe was Regional Director Africa covering West and Central Africa for the International Finance Corporation, and Country Director for Senegal, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Mauritania at the World Bank. Her main areas of interest are fiscal policy, innovative financing mechanisms for development, agriculture, energy and economic governance. She is a member of the African Leadership Network.

• Albert Zeufack (co-chair)

  Africa Region Chief Economist, World Bank (Moderator)

  Albert Zeufack, a Cameroonian national, is the World Bank Chief Economist for the Africa Region. He joined the World Bank in 1997 as a research economist in the macroeconomics division of the Research Department. Since then, he has held several positions in the East Asia and Pacific region, as well as in the Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Global Practice with a particular focus on Africa, Europe and Central Asia. Mr. Zeufack's main research interest is the micro-foundations of macroeconomics. Prior to his appointment as Chief Economist, he was Practice Manager in the Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Global Practice and leader of the World Bank-wide Community of Practice for the Management of Natural Resources Rents, a group interested in sovereign wealth, fiscal rules, public spending patterns, and macro-modeling in natural resource-rich economies. Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Zeufack taught economics and applied econometrics at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France, where he received his Ph.D. in economics. He holds a master's degree in economic analysis and policy from the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon.

  Aloysius Uche Ordu (co-chair)

  Director and Senior Fellow, Africa Growth Initiative, Brookings

  Aloysius Uche Ordu is a senior fellow and director of the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings. Prior to taking up this appointment, he was managing partner at Omapu Associates LLC, a boutique advisory services and consulting firm. Ordu was previously vice president at the African Development Bank, and he worked at the World Bank Group for more than two decades in various leadership and managerial capacities. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, he worked as an international economist at the Midland Bank Group, London, covering emerging markets, and The Economist Intelligence Unit, London, covering sovereign risks. Ordu holds a Ph.D. in economics from Sussex University, M.Sc. in quantitative economics from Bristol University, and B.Sc. in economics and law from University College, Cardiff, Wales, U.K.