IfAD Public Talk Series

Our speakers are leading national and international experts and policymakers who talk about the economic and development issues, challenges, and opportunities of our time. The talks are open to general audience, and all are encouraged to attend.

Zainab Usman

Speaker:Dr. Zainab Usman, Author, Political-Economist, Former Director of the Africa Program, Carnegie Endowment For International Peace
Topic:The End of the Global Aid Industry and the Future of Development Cooperation
Time:12:30 PM, 25 NOVEMBER 2025
Registration: LINK

Bio: Dr. Zainab Usman is the Founding Director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. Her research and policy work focus on how low-and middle-income economies can harness their natural resources for sustainable and inclusive economic development. Before joining Carnegie, Dr. Usman was a Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank, where she worked on issues of social sustainability, energy policy reforms, natural resources management, and the adoption of digital technologies for governance and development. Her fieldwork and advisory experience span Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Serbia, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan, among others.

Dr. Usman is the author of Economic Diversification in Nigeria: The Politics of Building a Post-Oil Economy—selected by the Financial Times as one of the Best Books of 2022 in economics—and co-editor of The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All. She also contributed to two of the World Bank’s flagship reports, Rethinking Power Sector Reforms in Developing Countries and Africa’s Resource Future: Harnessing Natural Resources for Economic Transformation during the Low-Carbon Transition. Her academic and policy research has appeared in African Affairs, the World Bank’s Policy Research Working Paper Series, and edited volumes from Oxford University Press and James Currey. Beyond academia, her commentary and analysis have been featured widely in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Economist, Financial Times, Bloomberg News, BBC, Al Jazeera English, Project Syndicate, and The Washington Post. Dr. Usman obtained her doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Oxford.

Insights from economics, law, and behavioral sciences to inform identification and designs of effective development policies and programs to promote agency and economic development.

Mailing Address:

The Initiative for Agency and Development
McClelland Park 304F, 650 N. Park Ave.
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719

Email us :

info@agencyfordevelopment.org

We are a leading source of insights and policy dialogues concerning poverty, agency, and development:

We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.

University Information Security and Privacy

© 2023 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona.

TOP