Ms. Carla Grasso assumed office as Deputy Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Fund on February 2, 2015. Ms. Grasso is a dual national of Brazil and Italy.
In her new role at the Fund, Ms. Grasso oversees all the Fund’s administrative functions, coordinates the budget, human resources, technology, general services, and internal audit, to ensure the efficient, effective, and comprehensive management of these functions, which are vital to the Fund’s overall effectiveness. She also oversees the IMF’s capacity-building and training work.
Before coming to the Fund Ms. Grasso worked for fourteen years, at Vale S.A., one of the world’s largest mining companies, serving as Vice President for Human Resources and Corporate Services from 2001 to 2011. During that time, she led efforts to modernize the company—with operations in 38 countries and involving 138,000 people—in the areas of human resources, IT, procurement, communications, and health and safety.
Before joining Vale S.A., Ms. Grasso served as Secretary of the Brazilian Supplementary Social Security Office from 1994 to 1997, and also held several positions as Advisor and Coordinator in the Ministries of Social Security, Finance, and Planning, as well as in the Office of the President of Brazil. She participated, inter alia, in the creation and proposal for social security system reform and assessment of the funding needs of the public sector in Brazil, with a focus on fiscal and tax areas.
Ms. Grasso holds a Masters degree in Economic Policy from Universidade de Brasília and was Professor of International Economics and Monetary Economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Brasília, and of Economy Mathematics at the Centro Universitário do Distrito Federal. In 2014 she was Professor of Business Education at Insper (Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa) in Sao Paulo.
Resources dedicated to capacity development in fragile states have risen substantially in recent years. This panel discussion will review country experiences in implementing capacity development in fragile states, and focus on its impact, successes and challenges, and ways to further strengthen delivery modalities.
A reception will follow immediately after the panel discussion, for informal interaction between members of the CD community – including partners, training recipients and IMF staff involved in this effort.
Moderator
Antoinette Monsio Sayeh
Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Center for Global Development
Ms. Sayeh is a distinguished visiting fellow at CGD. She was a director of the IMF’s African Department from July 2008 to August 2016. Prior to that, as Minister of Finance in post-conflict Liberia, Ms. Sayeh led the country through the clearance of its long-standing multilateral debt arrears, the HIPC Decision Point, the Paris Club, and its first Poverty Reduction Strategy, significantly strengthening its public finances and championing public financial management reform. Before joining President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Cabinet, she worked for the World Bank for 17 years, including as country director for Benin, Niger, and Togo; senior country economist on Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as an advisor in the Bank’s Operations Policy Vice Presidency and as assistant to its principal managing director. Ms. Sayeh also worked in economic advisory positions in Liberia’s Ministries of Finance and Planning. She earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Economics from Swarthmore College and a PhD in International Economic Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
Panelists
Malado Kaba
Minister of Finance
Republic of Guinea
Ms. Kaba was born in Nigeria and grew up in France. She graduated from Paris Nanterre University in 1994 with a degree in development economics.
Ms. Kaba did an internship at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs before working as an adviser at the Guinean ministry of economy, finance and planning from 1996 until 1999. She has worked on several development projects with the European Union and oversaw analysis of the European Commission's partnership with South Africa related to macroeconomics and budgetary transparency. In 2014, Ms. Kaba became country-head of the Africa Governance Initiative of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Ms. Kaba was appointed Minister of Finance by President Alpha Condé on 6 January 2016, the first woman in the role and one of seven women appointed to cabinet.
Khaled Al-Abbadi
Deputy Governor of Yemen’s Central Bank
Mr. Al-Abbadi is the Deputy Governor for Foreign Banking Operations and Research at the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY). He oversees CBY’s operations in international payments and receipts, FX reserve management, external debt management, and research and statistics. He has been in this position since November 2016. Prior to this position, he was an academic researcher on economic and educational development in conflict affected states.
Charles Collyns
Director
Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF
Mr. Collyns joined the IEO as Director in February 2017, after working as Managing Director and Chief Economist at the Institute of International Finance for 3 1/2 years. He served as Assistant Secretary for International Finance at the US Treasury Department from February 2010 to July 2013. Prior to joining Treasury, he worked at the IMF, including as Deputy Director in the Research Department responsible for the World Economic Outlook and Deputy Director in the Western Hemisphere Department. He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Oxford and a BA from the University of Cambridge.
Sir Paul Collier
Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Oxford University
Mr. Collier’s research covers fragile states, a topic on which he is co-directing a Commission of the British Academy; restoring growth in African economies, on which he worked for the 2017 G20 at the invitation of Germany’s Minister of Finance; the implications of group psychology for development, on which he is co-managing a research network led by Nobel Laureate George Akerlof; migration and refugees, which are the subject of his two most recent books; urbanization in poor countries, a program which has just won challenge funding from the Foreign Office; and the crisis in modern capitalism, which is the subject of his forthcoming book, The Future of Capitalism, to be published in October. Five books published since 2007, including The Bottom Billion which won the Lionel Gelber, Arthur Ross and Corine prizes and was the joint winner of the Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book prize, and his latest, Refuge, which is an Economist ‘book of the year’. Received a knighthood in 2014 for services to promoting research and policy change in Africa and has been listed as one of the hundred most influential public thinkers in five of the past ten years.
Stefano Manservisi
Director-General for International Cooperation and Development
European Commission
Mr. Manservisi is the Director-General for International Cooperation and Development at the European Commission since May 2016. An Italian national, he previously served as Head of the Private Office of Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Commission Vice-President. In 2014, he was the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey. Before that, he held other positions at the Commission, including as Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs and Director-General for Development and Relations with African, Caribbean, and Pacific States. He has also headed the Private Offices of the Commission's President Romano Prodi and Commissioner Mario Monti and served in the Private Offices of the Commission's Vice‑President Filippo Pandolfi and of Commissioner Francesco Vanni d'Archirafi. A lawyer by training, he enjoys teaching and has been a visiting professor at the University of Bologna, University of Roma III, and the College of Europe.
