SPEAKERS

Manuela Ferro, Vice President, Operations Policy and Country Services, World Bank

Manuela V. Ferro assumed the position of Vice President of Operations Policy and Country Services (OPCS) on July 1, 2017. In this role, Ms. Ferro oversees the World Bank’s corporate policies on financing and analytical services.

A Portuguese national, Ms. Ferro has 25 years of hands-on and leadership experience in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

An economist and an engineer by training, Ms. Ferro worked in technical and corporate positions at the World Bank. She previously served as the Director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management in the Middle East and North Africa, where she oversaw the team of economists and governance specialists.  Most recently, she served as the World Bank’s Director for Strategy and Operations for Latin America and the Caribbean, overseeing the operational and analytical work in this region over the past three years.

Ms. Ferro was also the Manager of the Country Economics unit in OPCS, overseeing country strategies, development policy financing, and guarantees.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Ms. Ferro was an Assistant Professor at The Technical University of Lisbon, from which she holds an MSc./Engineering Degree.  Ms. Ferro holds a Ph.D. and a M.A. in Applied Economics from Stanford University.

Enzo de Laurentiis, Chief Procurement Officer, Operations Policy and Country Services, World Bank

Enzo de Laurentiis is the World Bank’s Chief Procurement Officer, in the Operations Policy and Country Services Vice-Presidency.  Previously, he served as Manager of the Procurement Policy Unit in the same Vice-Presidency, as a Practice Manager in the Governance Global Practice, and as the Regional Procurement Manager for the East Asia and Pacific and the Latin America and Caribbean Regions of the World Bank.

Prior to joining the World Bank as Procurement Specialist in 1998, Mr. de Laurentiis was Projects Director and later Vice President of an international consulting firm providing advisory services on procurement to Multilateral Development Banks, countries and the private sector.

Mr. de Laurentiis has been a member of the adjunct faculty at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., from 1992 to 2004, teaching international contracts and international procurement law.  He has also prior legal and international banking experience.

Mr. de Laurentiis holds a law degree (Dottore in Giurisprudenza) from the University of Trieste in Italy and a Masters of Laws (LL.M.) in International Legal Studies from American University Washington College of Law.

Gary Litman, Vice President, Global Initiatives, US Chamber of Commerce 

Gary Litman is Vice President for Global Initiatives at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he is primarily responsible for the Chamber’s policy advocacy related to the economic reform agenda of G20, G7 and international financial institutions. He leads the Chamber’s participation in a range of global business coalitions, and related business summits focused on the on-going transformation of the framework of global finance. In this capacity he manages the policy development by the Chamber’s G20 task force, and its dialogues with such institutions as the Financial Stability Board, International Organization of Security Commissions, the World Bank Group and the IMF.

Litman previously served as the Chamber’s vice president for Europe and Eurasia. In that role, he managed all the programs, and staff working on transatlantic relations both in Washington and in Brussels, as well as project-specific consultants working in the European Union (EU), Central Asia and Russia.  He also managed the Chamber’s extensive relationship with the American Chambers of Commerce in 42 countries and various advocacy initiatives with major business organizations in key members of the EU. Prior to becoming vice president, Litman served as executive director of the Chamber’s bilateral business councils with Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Romania, working closely with the executives of the first wave of investors in these markets, and with the international financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

A native of Moscow, Russia, he received his J.D. from George Washington University’s National Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Roger Fiszelson, Advisor, Confederation of International Contractors’ Association

Roger Fiszelson is Advisor for the Confederation of International Contractors’ Associations (CICA). He served as Director General of CICA from 2012 to 2017.

Prior to his work at CICA, Roger was Director General of the French International Contractors’ Association (SEFI) from 2003 to 2012.

From 1978 to 2003, he worked as Head of structured finance in Vinci Concessions, GTM, Dumez, CBC, and SAE (Société Auxiliaire d’Entreprises-Merging in Eiffage in 1992).

Roger received his Master’s Degree in Management from University Paris II – Assas in 1969. In 1970, he studied Economy and Finance at Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. In 1978 he received a specialized training in Finance at Institut Superieur des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales – ESSEC Group.

Sarah Adwoa Safo, Minister of State in Charge of Public Procurement, Government of Ghana

Sarah Adwoa Safo is the first Minister of State in Charge of Public Procurement in Ghana, and is an active Member of Ghana Parliament since 2013. She is currently the first woman and youngest ever Deputy Majority Leader of the Parliament of Ghana.

She was the founding legal officer of the Public Procurement Authority of Ghana, and played a leading role in setting up the Appeals and Complaints Panel. She worked with the Legal Aid Board to mediate cases, and act as legal representative pro bono.

Adwoa Safo was a practicing lawyer of fourteen years good standing, and was a partner of the law firm SAFO & MARFO @ LAW.

She holds a Master’s Degree (LLM) in Government Procurement Law from the George Washington University Law School. Prior to that, Adwoa Safo earned degrees in law at the Ghana School of Law and University of Ghana.

Ulrika Modéer, State Secretary to the Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate, Government of Sweden

Ulrika Modéer is State Secretary to the Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate, overseeing international development cooperation, Sweden's Policy for Global Development, and international climate policy.

Prior to this she was the Team Manager of the Environmental and Foreign Policy Team for the Green Party Parliamentary Secretariat and worked in a variety of roles at the civil society organization Diakonia, including as Policy Manager (2009-2011), International Manager (2004–2006) and as Head of the Latin American department (2001–2003). Ulrika lives in Stockholm, is married with three children and holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Gothenburg.

Tanya Beckett, Moderator

Tanya Beckett has worked in broadcasting and the media for over twenty years. She started out at the Financial Times, then went to work for CNBC, Sky News, CNN and since 1998, the BBC.

She has worked on a variety of programs on BBC World News, the Newschannel, Radio 4 and BBC1 and BBC2 including Our World, Working Lunch, Today, World Business report, Newsnight, and World Business Report. She also spent 3 years living in and reporting from New York.

Tanya has a degree from Oxford University in Metallurgy and Materials Science and spent 5 years as an investment banker in Frankfurt and London.