IMF Connect

Nigel Clarke
Deputy Managing Director, IMF

Mr. Clarke assumed the role of Deputy Managing Director at the IMF on October 31, 2024.

Before joining the IMF, Mr. Clarke served as Jamaica’s Minister of Finance and the Public Service, and a Member of Parliament, since March 2018. Prior to this, he served as Ambassador of Economic Affairs from 2016. During this period, he stewarded his country’s economy to a stronger and more sustainable position. He spearheaded ambitious national reforms, including central bank independence, creation of an independent fiscal commission, as well as other tax policy, public body governance, public procurement, public sector compensation, and public investment management reforms.

Mr. Clarke holds a PhD in Numerical Analysis from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a Master of Science Degree in Applied Statistics, also from Oxford, while he was a Commonwealth Scholar. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of the West Indies where he was a Jamaica Independence Scholar.

H.E Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser
President, Islamic Development Bank

HE Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser was elected by the IsDB Board of Governors in early July 2021 to lead the AAA-rated institution for five years. He assumed office as Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank Group on August 9, 2021. 

He served as the Minister of Economy and Planning and Governor and Board Chairman of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (now the Saudi Central Bank-SAMA). 

He also served as an Advisor at the Saudi Council of Ministers General Secretariat and as Chairman of the General Authority for Competition. 

In addition, he was a member of several Saudi ministerial councils, boards, and committees, including the Council for Economic Affairs and Development, the Supreme Council for Civil Defense, the Board of Directors of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, the Board of Directors of the Public Investment Fund, the Higher Committee for Hajj (Pilgrimage) Affairs, and the Ministerial Environmental Committee. 

Dr. Al Jasser was the Alternate Governor for Saudi Arabia at the IMF, the World Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank. Other previous positions include Deputy Minister of Finance and National Economy, Vice Governor and Vice Chairman of the Board of SAMA, IMF Executive Director, Chairman of the GCC Monetary Council, Member of the Governing Body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Saudi Telecom Co. (STC), Chairman of the Board of the Arab Investment Company, and Chairman of the Council of Islamic Financial Services Board. 

Since Jan 2022, Dr. Al Jasser has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Regional Center of Quality and Excellence in Education–UNESCO. 

Dr. Al Jasser holds a PhD in economics and a master's degree in economics from the University of California and a bachelor's degree in economics with honors from San Diego State University. 

Dr. Al Jasser received several medals and awards, most notably the King Abdul Aziz Medal of the First Order in 2001 and Senegal's most prestigious National Order of the Lion in January 2023. 

Odile Renaud-Basso
President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Odile Renaud-Basso is President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). 

The EBRD’s Board of Governors re-elected Ms. Renaud-Basso for a second term as President at its 33rd Annual Meeting held in Yerevan, Armenia. 

The Board first elected her as the Bank’s seventh President in October 2020 during its 29th Annual Meeting. 

She took up her role in November 2020, replacing Sir Suma Chakrabarti, who had stepped down in July 2020 after serving two full four-year terms. She is the first ever woman head of a multilateral development bank. 

Prior to joining the Bank, as Director General at the French Treasury, Ms. Renaud-Basso oversaw the development of France’s economic policy, leading on European and international financial affairs, trade policy, financial regulation and debt management. 

As part of her role, she also served as Vice-President of the European Economic and Financial Committee, deputy to the G7 and G20 groups and French Governor or Alternate Governor of the World Bank, EBRD and African Development Bank. She was also Chair of the Paris Club. 

She was previously Deputy Director-General of Caisse des Dépôts, a large French public financial institution. 

Ms. Renaud-Basso is a graduate of the Paris Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po) and an Ecole Nationale d’Administration alum. She also attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. 

The EBRD President has an official presence on LinkedIn and X (formerly known as Twitter). 

Joel Hellman
Dean, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Professor Joel Hellman became Dean of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in July 2015 after 25 years working on some of the most complex issues of governance, conflict and the political economy of development. He served at the World Bank in many senior roles including Chief Institutional Economist, Director of the Center for Conflict, Security and Development in Nairobi, Kenya where he led the Bank’s engagement with fragile and conflict-affected states around the world, and Coordinator of the Bank’s response in Indonesia to the devastating Asian Tsunami. He was the Senior Political Counselor at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. As a scholar, Dr. Hellman was a political science professor at Harvard University and Columbia University focusing on the politics of economic reform.