Vera Songwe

Vera Songwe is an economist and banking executive from Cameroon who has worked for the World Bank since 1998, and in 2015 became Western and Central Africa's regional director for the International Finance Corporation. She is the first woman to head the U.N.'s Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at the level of Under Secretary-General.

Quotes

• The power of NEPAD is the power of ideas and solutions it brings to the table. NEPAD and ECA have been working together closely on the MoveAfrica border system to harmonise systems, processes, and regulations in support of implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area. NEPAD has also been at the forefront to ensure that the single African transport market can take hold.  It is time for Africa to have its own development institution.
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• The health pandemic caught Africa, like the rest of the world, unprepared. Our insurance systems were not deep enough, and as a collective we’ve needed to come together to respond. Twenty years after the birth of the African Union, which was created to reinforce solidarity, the continent was tested.[2]