OPEC FUND PERSPECTIVES
A LONG AND WINDING ROAD
OPEC Fund Africa Directors Khaled Al-Zayer and Mahmoud Khene reflect on the continent’s climate and development challenges, its vast potential and their most memorable experiences in the field By Axel Reiserer, OPEC Fund
OPEC Fund Quarterly : When did your involvement in Africa start and what have been the business highlights to date? Khaled Al-Zayer, Director, Eastern & Southern Africa: My involvement with Africa started 16 years ago when I joined the OPEC Fund as a Public Sector Operations Officer. Until 2021 I was responsible for a portfolio consisting of Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Mauritius, Malawi and Kenya. During that period, I prepared and presented to the Governing Board projects for approval for a total value of US$935 million. Mahmoud Khene, Director, West & Central Africa: As a child of the
MAHMOUD KHENE Mahmoud Khene is Regional Director, West & Central Africa at the OPEC Fund, which he joined in 2002. Prior he held senior advisory positons in his home country Algeria, working on the reform of the health system. He is a graduate of the University of Vienna, the University of London and worked as a Researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. KHALED AL-ZAYER Khaled Al-Zayer is Regional Director, East & Southern Africa at the OPEC Fund, which he joined in 2007. Prior he worked at Saudi Aramco in Business Services and Planning. A native of Saudi Arabia, he holds degrees in business and economics from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran and the University of Oregon, USA.
continent, the immensely rich and diverse cultural and civilizational heritage, tumultuous history, vast potential and intricate development challenges facing Africa and its peoples have
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