CENTENNIAL GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Visiting Professor at the University of Geneva
Achim von Heynitz is a Visiting Professor at the University of Geneva, where he is teaching for more than 10 years a MBA class at the IOMBA program on Results and Resource Management for Non-Profit Organizations. Prior to diverse consulting assignments over the last 10 years, Mr. von Heynitz was Budget Director at the World Bank, subsequent to holding a position as Director of the Front Office, Operations Department at the EBRD. Before joining EBRD, Mr. von Heynitz has accumulated in-depth experience as policy advisor in various think tanks and the German Foreign Office.
Areas of Expertise:
Budget management, fiscal policy and public sector financial management
Anil Sood - Chief Strategy Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Strategy Officer
- Partner
Anil Sood is a Partner of Centennial Group International. Prior to joining the Centennial Group, he held many senior positions at the World Bank, including Vice President responsible for Strategy, Change and Resource Management. His expertise is on a wide range of development issues, strategy and institutional effectiveness. He has advised chief executives and senior management of a large number of multilateral and UN development organizations. Mr. Sood now focuses on issues of growth and global competitiveness, and on development evaluation. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar) and BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (Distinguished Alumni).
Areas of Expertise:
Development strategy
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner Head of Infrastructure and Urban Development Practice
Anupam Basu is a Senior Associate of the Centennial Group. He joined the Centennial Group after a long career in the International Monetary Fund, where he had served as Deputy Director of the Africa Department and Senior Advisor in the Policy Development and Review Department. He is an expert in the macroeconomic analysis of developing economies, including the design of fiscal, monetary, exchange rate and structural policies, financial programming, debt management policies and the assessment of debt sustainability. In recent years he has prepared studies on these issues in a number of countries, including Albania, Bangladesh, Botswana, East Timor, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Vanuatu. He has also worked on the regional integration issues of Sub-Saharan Africa, including issues dealing with monetary and trade integration, and the harmonization of various structural policies. His contributions to the Centennial Group's work on Sub-Saharan Africa have included the analyses of the region's record in economic growth, competitiveness and job-creation, and in macroeconomic stability and resilience. He has written on the potential role of SDRs in financing infrastructure projects and the global response to climate change, and on the assessment of various financing options for funding global refugee rehabilitation and integration programs in refugee-hosting states. Mr. Basu has a PhD in Economics and an MS in Statistics from Stanford University, and a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Areas of Expertise:
Macroeconomic performance and growth in African economies
Barun Chatterjee is a Senior Associate of Centennial Group International. His prior experience includes management and advisory positions at the World Bank and in major public accounting firms in Canada and India. His expertise is in a wide range of strategy and budget areas and institutional effectiveness. He has advised senior executives of a large number of multilateral development organizations, and acts as the advisor on knowledge dissemination to a business planning and budgeting network of 19 international financial institutions.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Latin America
- Partner President / Chief Executive Officer, Centennial Group Latin America
Partner; President/Chief Executive Officer, Centennial Group Latin America
Claudio Loser is Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Latin America. He is a well-known authority on Latin American economies and institutions. During his career at the International Monetary Fund he held many senior positions, including Director of the Western Hemisphere Department. Under his leadership, the Department was actively involved in a wide range of surveillance, technical assistance, and research activities. Recently he has worked closely with Latin American Development Bank (CAF), Asian Development Bank, JICA, JBIC, and with a number of other financial corporations, dealing with developments in Latin America and the evolving relations between these countries and the IMF. He is a Senior Fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based forum for opinion leaders and policymakers on Western Hemisphere affairs. He teaches Latin American Development issues and finance at the George Washington University. He has published in many journals, mostly on Latin American economic issues. He graduated from the University of Cuyo, Argentina and received his Masters of Arts and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1967 and 1971, respectively.
Areas of Expertise:
Latin American economies and institutions
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Fellow, Emerging Markets Forum Head of Global Climate Change Practice
- Member of the National Academy of Engineering
- Visiting Professor of Tsinghua University
Dr. Bindu N. Lohani was Ranking Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development. He was responsible for the ADB's Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department (Office of the Chief Economist), Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, and Office of Information Systems and Technology. Prior to the above position, Dr. Lohani was Vice-President (Finance and Administration) of ADB. Dr. Lohani served as Chair of Investment Committee of the Pension Fund (more than $2 billion); Chair of Asset Liability Management Committee; and Chair of Crisis Management Committee.
In his almost 30 years in ADB, he has held several positions, including Director General and Chief Compliance Officer of the Regional and Sustainable Development Department (responsible for sectoral and thematic areas like energy, transport, water, urban development, education, environment, gender and governance, and knowledge management), and Special Advisor to the President on Clean Energy, Climate Change and Environment. He had worked in various capacities, mostly infrastructure and sustainable development. Before joining ADB, he worked for the Government of Nepal (relating to the infrastructure departments) and was Associate Professor and Division Chairman of the Environmental Engineering Program at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), an independent post-graduate institution located at Bangkok.
Dr. Lohani holds Doctoral degree in Environmental Engineering. Dr. Lohani has been conferred with several Honorary Doctoral Degrees including the Degree of Doctor of University by the Griffith University, Australia in recognition of his distinguished contributions to environment. He has also completed several management development programs, including the Executive Program conducted by the Business School of the University of Chicago, Management Development Program by Cornell University; and programs by Arthur D. Little School of Management, and Corporate Leadership program at Yale University.
Dr. Lohani is Visiting Professor of Tsinghua University, Beijing (China) and Professor (Research) of Tongji University, Shanghai (China) and Distinguished Adjunct Faculty of Asian Institute of Technology. He is a member of several international advisory bodies such as Environmental Impact Assessment Review Journal (United Kingdom), Advisory Panel; Journal of Urban Solutions, Centre for Livable Cities (Singapore); International Advisory Panel for the Institute of Water Policies, Lee Kwan Yew, School of Public Policy (Singapore); and Council member, China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (China). He has published eight books and more than 250 publications.
Dr. Lohani is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) of United States - the highest professional distinction accorded to an engineer - for his work on economic-cum-environment approach to sustainable development. He is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (awarded for excellence in the practice of environmental engineering) and is a licensed professional engineer. Dr. Lohani was elected to the rank of AAAS Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Council for world leadership in development country planning for integrated economic-cum- environmental sustainable development through protection of natural/social resources.
Areas of Expertise:
Sustainable development & climate change
Gautam Kaji, Chairman and Founding Partner of the Centennial Group International, has a 30-year long career in economic and development policy formulation and implementation at the World Bank, where he was the Managing Director and Chairman of the Loan Committee. He has earned a reputation as a leading expert on global economic and financial issues, especially in emerging market economies, and for his close personal relations with key decision-makers and private sector players. He is a board member of several companies, including the Cabot Corporation and the Infrastructure Development Finance Company of India. Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Kaji worked in the commercial banking sector in India, Hong Kong, the UK and the USA. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Founding Partner
- President
- Founding Director and Chief Executive of Emerging Markets Forum
- Founding Partner President Chief Executive Officer Chairman, Centennial Group Latin America
Founding Partner; President; Chief Executive Officer; Chairman, Centennial Group Latin America
Harinder S. Kohli is the Founding Director and Chief Executive of Emerging Markets Forum as well as Founding Director, President, and CEO of Centennial Group International, both based in Washington, D.C. He has served almost 30 years in senior managerial positions at the World Bank, and has written extensively on the emergence of Asia, Latin America, Africa and other emerging market economies; financial development; and infrastructure. He is a co-author and co-editor of several preeminent and timely publications including: India 2039, Latin America 2040, Islamic Finance, Asia 2050, A new vision for Mexico 2042, Africa 2050, Central Asia 2050, and China's Belt and Road Initiative: Potential Transformation of Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Mr. Kohli is also currently working on an update to the book, The World in 2050: Striving for a just, prosperous and harmonious global community, to reflect the realities of a post-pandemic world. Mr. Kohli is also a distinguished professor in Beijing Normal University.
Job Titles:
- Manager of Information Analytics
Harpaul Kohli is the Manager of Information Analytics at the Centennial Group, where he also manages the Forum's technology, works as a research assistant, and has developed an integrated database of over 67 million country-level data points. He has also managed and directed the development of the Centennial Index of Financial Development and Strength, which applies advanced statistical techniques to over 160 indicators to measure and compare for 177 countries seventeen aspects of their financial systems. For each country, for every year since 1997 it presents scores for two apex indices (Development and Strength) and fifteen sub-indices, including Soundness, Openness, Depth, and Transparency. He is also a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist.
Job Titles:
- Economist
- Managing Director, Dual Gate - Centennial Group Ltd Saudi Arabia
Hasan Tuluy is an economist with nearly 4 decades of experience in Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America, is currently Director, Middle East and Africa with the Centennial Group where he advises multilateral and bilateral development institutions, and countries on development strategy and on organizational design issues. He has, in addition, periodically consulted for the World Bank on country programs and organizational design. He is on the Board for Partnership for Transparency Fund and formerly served as Chair of the Board for IREX, an international NGO.
From 1987 to his retirement from the World Bank in 2014, Tuluy held various senior positions at the World Bank. His most recent assignment prior to his retirement he served as Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean region from 2012 to 2014, overseeing the program of engagement with 32 member countries. Prior to that between 2008-2011 he was Vice President for Human Resources for the World Bank guiding strategy, policy and implementation for the Bank's 15,000 diverse and decentralized staff. In 2007-2008 as the Chief Operating Officer of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, he initiated a turn-around to bring the agency back to profitability. During the period from 2003 to 2007 Tuluy was Director of Strategy and Operations for the Middle East and North Africa region of the World Bank responsible for program implementation and portfolio quality. Between 2001-2003 he served as Director of Corporate Strategy for the World Bank. Previous to that he worked as Country Director in West Africa (1996-2000) and economist in various country and sector programs (1987-1995). Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Tuluy worked for around a decade in research and private consulting on trade and price policy issues in Africa and the Maghreb.
Job Titles:
- Head of Global Energy Practice
Hossein Razavi works as the head of global energy practice at Centennial Group International. Prior to joining the Centennial Group he worked at the World Bank for 25 years where he served a number of managerial and professional positions including the Chief of Oil and Gas Division, the Director of the Energy Department, and the Director of Private Sector Development. He has worked extensively in the countries of the Central Asia, Eastern Europe, East Asia, and Middle East and North Africa. Hossein Razavi holds an engineering degree from Tehran Polytechnic University, and an MA and Ph.D. in economics from University of Maryland. He serves on the editorial board of the Energy Journal.
Areas of Expertise:
Energy strategy
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Senior Researcher
Ieva Vilkelyte is a 2013 graduate of Georgetown University, where she earned a BA in Economics. She currently works as a Research Associate for Centennial Group.
Job Titles:
- Director of Middle East and Africa, Centennial Group Distinguished Fellow, Emerging Markets Forum
From March 2009 to December 2018, he was Chief Executive Officer at Development Gateway, an international nonprofit social enterprise whose mission is to support the use of data, technology, and evidence to create accountable institutions that listen and respond to the needs of their constituents and are efficient in targeting and delivering services that improve lives.
From 1980 to 2006, Mr. Sarbib was at the World Bank where he occupied a number of senior positions: Vice President for Africa, Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, and Senior Vice President for human development.
Upon leaving the Bank and before leading Development Gateway, Mr. Sarbib joined Wolfensohn & Company, a private equity firm, as a managing director. He was a non-resident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution and taught at Georgetown University. He serves on a number of non-profit boards (Partnership for Transparency Fund, Feedback Labs, and Open Data Watch). He is a member of the board of governors of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and a non-executive director on the boards of the African University of Science and Technology, the Nelson Mandela Institution, and NOI Polls in Nigeria. Mr. Sarbib is currently chair of the ACET Advisory Panel for the G20 Compact with Africa.
Prior to joining the World Bank Mr. Sarbib taught at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and worked for the French Government.
Mr. Sarbib is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (now Mines Paris Tech) and holds a Master in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. He attended the General Manager course at Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Resident
- Resident Senior Scholar, Emerging Markets Forum
Johannes F. Linn is Resident Senior Scholar at the Emerging Markets Forum in Washington, D.C., Senior Advisor at the Results for Development Institute, Senior Research Fellow at the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation and Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Since October 2020, he is Global Facilitator for the newly to be established Systematic Observations Financing Facility of the World Meteorological Organization. In 2019, he served as the Global Facilitator and Chair of the first replenishment of the Green Climate Fund. In 2011, 2014 and 2017, respectively, he was the chair for the 9 th, 10 th and 11 th Replenishment Consultations of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). From 2005-2010 he served Director of the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings. Prior to joining Brookings in 2003, he worked for three decades at the World Bank in various capacities, including as the Bank's Vice President for Financial Policy and Resource Mobilization (1991-1995) and Vice President for Europe and Central Asia (1996-2003). Johannes Linn has published extensively on the development and global governance issues, including Central Asia and the Caucasus: At the Crossroads of Eurasia in the 21st Century (co-editor; Sage, 2011), Getting to Scale: How to Bring Development Solutions to Millions of Poor People (co-editor; Brookings Press 2013) and Financing Metropolitan Governments in Developing Countries (co-editor; Lincoln Institute of Land Policy). He was co-editor for Kazakhstan 2050: Toward a Modern Society for All (Oxford University Press, 2014), for Central Asia 2050 (Sage, 2017) and for China's Belt and Road Initiative (Sage, 2019). His current research interests are in the areas of development effectiveness (with a special focus on scaling up successful development interventions), on global governance reform, and on regional cooperation (with a special focus on Central Asia). Mr. Linn holds a bachelor's degree from Oxford University (1968) and a doctorate in economics from Cornell University (1973).
Areas of Expertise:
Development effectiveness (evaluation, scaling up)
John Lavelle was formerly Senior HR Strategy Advisor at the World Bank. He currently advises a range of institutions in the public, private and not-for-profit spheres including Civil Service Commissions, Multilateral Development Banks and professional associations. He is a regular speaker at professional conferences in Asia and Africa and has authored a number of articles on aspects of strategy, organization effectiveness and people management. He began his career in academia and management consulting in Europe, was a senior executive with the Irish Export Board and faculty member of the Irish Management Institute and Institute of Public Administration. He has an MBA from UCLA (Education Abroad Scholar) and an MA & BSc Economics from Trinity College Dublin.
Areas of Expertise:
Development effectiveness
Job Titles:
- Partner Partner, Centennial Group Latin America
Jose Fajgenbaum is Partner of Centennial Group and Director of Centennial Group Latin America. Prior to joining the Centennial Group, he worked at the IMF for about 30 years, where he advanced from economist to Deputy Director of various departments. In addition to helping define and supervise these departments work He led missions to surveillance countries, such as Brazil, Israel, Russia and South Africa, as well as to countries supported by the IMF, such as Brazil in the early 1990s, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, Malawi, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago. His expertise is on a wide range of development and macroeconomic issues. He holds a BA from the National University of Cuyo, an MA in economics from the University of Chicago, and completed his Doctoral studies in economics at the University of Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Project and Research Associate
Laura Shelton joined Centennial as a Project and Research Associate in 2021. She earned a BA in Foreign Affairs and Economics from the University of Virginia and a MA in International Development and Economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Luc Lefebvre has 40 years of experience in international development co-operation. He led successively two different consulting firms engaged in this field for 24 years. He obtained an ISO 9001 quality assurance certification for one of them. After 15 years of contributing to designing projects and policies in agriculture and rural development, Luc Lefebvre specialized in public policies evaluation. He has led thematic evaluations, evaluations of aid instruments and multi-donor country programmes, for European and bilateral institutions. He contributed to designing the evaluation policy and methodological approaches for complex evaluations for these institutions and the OECD. Luc Lefebvre provides methodological and quality support to public organisations and to private consultancies. He taught public policies evaluation methods at Sciences-Po Paris and animated training sessions for French, Swedish and European Commission public officers. Luc Lefebvre is a founding member of the European Evaluation Society and national evaluation societies in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.
Areas of Expertise:
Design and management of complex public policies evaluations
Having worked with the World Bank for 30 years, and with over 35 years of experience in Economics, Development and Operations, Dr. Mahmood Ayub has been a senior manager with both the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program at the Director level. He has extensive experience on countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia. He also has field experience as Representative of the World Bank and UNDP in Egypt, Turkey and Bolivia. Dr. Ayub is currently a Senior Associate with the Centennial International Group. He also teaches Economics at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Pakistan. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University. He has published widely on economic development issues, macroeconomic policy, poverty and inequality, and capacity development issues.
Areas of Expertise:
Economic development issues
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner
- Partner
- Founding Partner President / Chief Executive, Centennial Asia Advisors
Founding Partner; President/Chief Executive, Centennial Asia Advisors
Manu Bhaskaran is a Partner of Centennial Group International and the Founding Director and Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Asia Advisors. Mr. Bhaskaran has 40 years of expertise in economic and political risk assessment and forecasting in Asia. Before joining the Centennial Group, he was Chief Economist for Asia of a leading international investment bank and managed its Singapore-based economic advisory group. Mr. Bhaskaran is a well-regarded commentator on Asian financial and economic affairs, and has regular columns in business weeklies such as the Edge in Singapore/Malaysia. He serves as Member of the Regional Advisory Board for Asia of the International Monetary Fund; Senior Adjunct Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies; Council Member of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs; and Vice-President of the Economics Society of Singapore. Mr. Bhaskaran has a Master's degree in Public Administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Bachelor's degree in economics from Cambridge University. He has also qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst. He is based in Singapore.
Areas of Expertise:
Macro-economic trends and policies
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Consultant With
Marjory-Anne Bromhead is a consultant with Centennial Group International. Before joining the group, she was with the World Bank for 30 years, where her areas of focus were agriculture, land and water management, environment and climate change. She was sector manager in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Africa regions, and also worked in the Middle East and South Asia. Before joining the Bank she worked with consulting engineers for 5 years. Her current areas of focus are climate and environment, including climate smart agriculture. She has an MPhil in urban and regional planning from the university of Edinburgh, and an MA in PPE (politics, philosophy and economics) from the University of Oxford.
Areas of Expertise:
Climate change management
Job Titles:
- Economist
- Head of Human Development and Demographics Practice
Michelle Riboud is an economist who started her professional career working in academia, serving at the University of Paris I, the University of Abidjan, a Spanish research institute, the University of Orleans, and the Institute d'Etudes Politiques in Paris, along with a visiting role at the University of Chicago. In late 1988, she joined the World Bank, working on education, labor market, public finance and social protection issues, first in Latin America and then the former Soviet Union and South Asia. In her last assignment, she was responsible for analytical work and lending portfolio in education in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. She holds a bachelor's degree and a doctorate degree in economics from the University of Paris I, as well as a master's degree and a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Co - Head of Evaluation Practice
Mr. Amnon Golan worked in the World Bank from 1965 to 1994. During that period he held various management positions including Director of Industry Department (1984 - 1987), Director of Technical Department Asia Region (1987 - 1990), and Director of Economic Development Institute (1990 - 1994). Following his retirement from the Bank he managed a private investment firm (1994-1997). From 1997 to 2011 he worked as Senior Advisor with the world Bank's Quality Assurance Group, and as a consultant with the IMF Institute, IFAD, the Australian Government, and Centennial. He has a BA degree in International Finance and Trade from University of Kentucky, a MA degree in International Economics and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from the Fletcher School-Tufts University.
Areas of Expertise:
Evaluation of countrywide development programs and projects
Job Titles:
- Co - Chairman, Eurasia Emerging Markets Forum
Philippe Le Houérou was Chief Executive Officer of IFC from March 2016 to September 2020. During his tenure at IFC, Mr. Le Houérou designed and implemented a new strategy aimed at creating new markets and creating opportunities in developing countries. This strategy sustainably shifted the
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Fellow, Emerging Markets Forum
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Partner
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner Chairman, Centennial Asia Advisors
Job Titles:
- Project and Research Associate
Shivang Bhakta is a Project and Research Associate who joined Centennial in 2022. Prior to working at Centennial, was a consultant with IFAD in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. He earned a BA in International Economics and Political Science and a MA in International Affairs from American University and a MA in Resource Management and Sustainable Development from the University for Peace.
Job Titles:
- Head of Global Trade and Competitiveness Practice Director of Middle East and Africa
Job Titles:
- Head of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Practice