Regional Director, Sustainable Development, Eastern and Southern Africa
World Bank
Ayat Soliman is the World Bank’s Regional Director for Sustainable Development for Eastern and Southern Africa. Ms. Soliman has over 25 years of experience working on sustainable development issues at the World Bank, United Nations and private sector, covering water, agriculture, environment, social and urban development, as well as cross cutting issues of climate change. In her current assignment, Ms. Soliman is in charge of setting the policy direction, fostering partnerships and ensuring the integrated delivery of sustainable development programs in the 26 countries in the region. Consistent with regional and country strategies, she provides strategic direction to deliver analytical and operational responses to key challenges faced by the region including food security, social inclusion & equitable economic transition, and climate resilience.
She oversees a team of over 300 staff and an active portfolio of $20.4 billion in investments across the region in urban and social development, agriculture, water, disaster risk management and environment sectors, as well as the delivery of the Bank’s new core analytical report on climate change for selected countries.
Prior to her current assignment, Ms. Soliman served as the Regional Director for Sustainable Development in the Middle East and North Africa region and was the Global Director in the Water Global Practice. She has also worked in the Latin America and Caribbean and Africa regions, and held positions of technical and managerial leadership. She brings extensive experience serving fragile and conflict affected countries, underscoring the importance of sustainable resource use for peace and stability. She holds an MSc and BSc in Environmental and Mechanical Engineering from the American University in Cairo.