October 12, 2021
Event highlights & video
The Center for Global Business hosted a discussion with three experts from the International Finance Corporation, Inter-American Development Bank, and Brookings about economic disparities exacerbated by the global pandemic and nongovernmental efforts and opportunities to address the growing crisis in the developing world.
Speaker Bios
Aloysius Uche Ordu
Dr. Aloysius Uche Ordu brings over three decades of international development and private sector experience. He was previously Vice President at the African Development Bank. In that capacity, he played active roles in the senior management team during the Bank’s sixth General Capital Increase and the record 12th Replenishment of the African Development Fund. Before his appointment as Vice President, Aloysius was Regional Director for Eastern Africa where he introduced innovative approaches to portfolio management, quality assurance, and rigorous analytical work that informed the formulation of policies, strategies, programs, and project lending. Prior to his positions with the African Development Bank, Aloysius served as Director of Operations Policy and Quality and other leadership capacities at the World Bank for over 22 years.
Prior to joining the Brookings Institution in August 2020, he was Managing Partner, Omapu Associates LLC, a boutique advisory services and consulting firm. In that capacity, he was lead advisor of the African Development Fund’s Policy Innovation Lab, an independent think-tank financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that produced the High-Level Panel Report (2017) “Reinvigorating African Concessional Finance: Transforming Trust in the AfDB Group into Influence.” In these capacities and many other capacities, Aloysius continued to build on his well-established connections with Africa’s policy makers, business and thought leaders, foundations and civil society organizations.
Zeynep Kantur Ozenci, MS ’00
A 13 year IFC veteran, Zeynep is currently leading IFC’s market creation and upstream activities in Health & Education sectors, including development of scalable global solutions and early stage project development initiatives. In addition, Zeynep is also leading IFC’s efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an objective of increasing healthcare security and resilience in low and middle income countries.
Zeynep's professional background blends a mix of diagnostic and policy work at the IBRD, investment and market creation projects at the IFC, and debt capital market structuring experience in the private sector. Among her flagship contributions in IFC, Zeynep has led the launch of the Global Health Platform , as part of the World Bank Group’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an objective to increase private sectors capacity to meet the immediate demands of the pandemic as well as future pandemic preparedness.
Before joining IFC in 2008, Zeynep worked at HSBC, focusing on debt capital market transactions across sectors, and prior to that at the World Bank headquarters, working on development of capital markets in developing countries. During her time in the World Bank, she gained experience and knowledge of capital market development issues in a number of developing countries including Russia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mozambique, Kenya and Zambia.
Alejandro Prada, MBA ’18
Dr. Alejandro Prada, LL.M., MBA is a Colombian attorney, with studies in law and business in Colombia, Spain, Germany and the United States. He has 20+ years of professional experience in international business, banking, project and corporate finance and business strategy. Over his career, Alejandro has adviced and participated in transactions in several European, Latin American and Caribbean countries, across different economic sectors. Currently, he is Principal Advisor for Strategy and Corporate Affairs of IDB Invest, in charge of strategic outreach and partnerships. IDB Invest is the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the premier multilateral development bank in Latin America and the Caribbean. Alejandro is based in Washington, DC.