John works as Practice Manager for the Trade and Competitiveness Practice in the Africa Region.  He has over 30 years’ experience in investment climate and PPPs in a wide range of countries, and sectors, including 17 years in the private sector itself.  He has worked both at the policy, technical assistance and direct intervention level.  Prior to taking on the Practice Manager role he lead the Banks policy dialogue on PPPs and the investment climate in West and Central Africa.  Prior to this he had a similar role in South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa region.   He has led and participated in nearly a dozen Investment Climate Assessments, in many cases using these to build dialogues that have led to long term technical assistance and projects. Recently he has led the Bank’s work on growth poles in Africa. He led the Bank’s efforts in producing the 2013 and 2015 African Competitiveness Report.  He also has a strong interest in Fragile, Conflict and Violence affected states and co-authored “The Small Entrepreneur in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations”.

John holds a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland.  He is a Chartered Accountant and has studied Development Economics at the London School of Economics.  Prior to joining the Bank in 1995 he was with Deloittes where his final responsibility was partner responsible for Deloittes New Zealand’s international consulting practice.   In this role he worked primarily at the transactional level.  Leading specific efforts to establish PPPs, privatize, and reform SOEs.  He was also very actively engaged in supporting cross-border investments.