Panelists

Jason Rosario Braganza, Executive Director, AFRODAD

Jason Rosario Braganza, AFRODAD’s Executive Director, is a Kenyan Economist with over ten years experience working on international development in Africa. Over the past decade, Jason has focused his work on trade and regional integration; finance for development and tax; illicit financial flows and domestic resource mobilisation as well as poverty and inequality. Jason also served as the Co-Head and Programme Director of Tax at the International Lawyers Project (ILP). Prior to joining ILP, Jason served as the Deputy Executive Director and Head of Research at Tax Justice Network Africa where he led its work on research and advocacy on illicit financial flows and tax justice at the continental and global level. Prior to this, Jason worked as a Senior Analyst at the Development Initiatives – Africa Hub and Economist at the Ministry of East African Community in Kenya. He joined AFRODAD in October 2020 as Executive Director.

Jason holds a Master's Degree in Development Economics from the University of Sussex (UK), and an Undergraduate Degree in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Jason also serves as Co-Chair of the Youth for Tax Justice Network (YTJN) and Associate Governor at St Ignatius College.

Penelope Hawkins, Senior Economist, Debt and Development Finance, Division on Globalisation and Development Strategies, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Dr. Penelope Hawkins is Acting Director of the Debt and Development Finance Branch within UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In her current position, she researches and engages with member country representatives and the broader civil and academic society on sustainable sovereign debt, financing for development and the nexus between debt and climate finance. She represents the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at the G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group meetings. Previously, as the founder and Managing Director of Feasibility (Pty) Ltd, she undertook leading research projects in the financial sector in Southern Africa, commissioned by regulators, policy makers and the private sector. Her expertise in the financial sector stems from her published work, including her PhD thesis that examined the financial constraints of small open economies, and extended the analysis of financial fragility, vulnerability and exclusion to nations as well as businesses. Recent publications include: Festschrift in honour of professor Sheila Dow (2022), edited with Ioana Negru, entitled Monetary Economics, Banking and Policy, Expanding Economic Thought to meet Contemporary Challenges (Routledge) and Debt, development and Gender, in "Feminism in public debt - A human rights approach" co-edited by Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky and Mariana Rulli (2023) and published in English by Bristol University Press. .

Yuefen Li, Senior Adviser, South-South Cooperation and Development Finance, The South Centre 

Ms. Yuefen LI is the Senior Adviser on South-South Cooperation and Development Finance of the South Centre. She was Head of the Debt and Development Finance Branch of the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) where she worked for 24 years. She used to teach in the University of International Business and Economics in China. She has published on various issues including development finance, the Chinese economy, international trade and development strategies. Ms. Li got her Master’s degree in the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Beijing Foreign Studies University in China, and she was also a visiting scholar in the London School of Economics (LSE).

Ugo Panizza, Professor, International Economics and Pictet Chair in Finance and Development, Deputy Director, Centre for Finance and Development, Geneva Graduate Institute

Ugo Panizza is Professor of Economics and Pictet Chair in Finance and Development at the Geneva Graduate Institute where he also serves as head of the Department of Economics. He is a Vice President and Fellow of CEPR and Fellow of the Fondazione Einaudi, Director of the International Center for Monetary and Banking Studies, Editor in Chief of Oxford Open Economics, and deputy director of the Center for Finance and Development.  Before joining the Graduate Institute, he was Chief of the Debt and Finance Analysis Unit at the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and a Senior Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank. He also worked at the World Bank and taught at the American University of Beirut and the University of Torino.  He holds a PhD in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University and a Laurea in Political Sciences from the University of Torino. 

Registration

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Organisers

This event is jointly organised by the Geneva Graduate Institute's Centre for Finance and Development (CFD) and the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as part of their joint series on Financing for Development.