COP27: SDG Acceleration through Sovereign Wealth Funds

Minister of Planning and Economic Development. Dr. Hala El-Said was born in May 19, 1957 in Cairo. She belongs to a political family at the province of Dakahlia. Her father, Helmy Al-Saeed, was appointed Minister of Electricity and the High Dam in 1970. She is considered as the first elected Dean for the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University since October 2011. She also holds the position of Assistant President of Cairo University for Scientific Research Affairs and External Relations since September 2013. El-Said is considered as women's banking figures. She led the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI), which is the training arm of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for a period of eight years, during which EBI has the international accreditation «2006-2008». El-Said achieved her PhD in Economics from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University in 1989. She has her Master and BA degrees in Economics and with honors from the same University in 1983 and 1978 respectively. Dr. Hala El-Said worked as Executive Director of the EBI, Central Bank of Egypt, during the period January 2003 - August 2011. She worked also as Professor of Economics at Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University since September 2004. During the period of 1995 – 1999, she was the Adviser of the international finance Unit at IDSC. She was also the Chairman of the Department of Economics at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi

Mr Amrane has been appointed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI as Chief Executive Officer of Ithmar Capital in February 2019.

Mr Amrane is also the Founder of the Africa Sovereign Investor Forum (ASIF), a platform run by African SWFs dedicated to project development and investment promotion in the continent. Prior to this appointment, Mr Amrane was Deputy CEO of the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN). He was a member of the Executive Board since its creation in 2010. His previous experience in the economic and financial areas, as well as his engineering capabilities, allowed him to oversee all the procedures and operations within MASEN, from development to legal engineering, partnerships and financing. From 2006 to 2010, Mr Amrane was the Managing Director of the Moroccan subsidiary of the BPCE Group to develop the activities of the French banking group in the banking and real estate sectors in Morocco. Prior to that, Mr Amrane held various positions in the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance. He was a Public Finance Inspector, Head of the Debt Restructuring Service at the Treasury Division, and then Head of Credit within the same division. Mr Amrane holds a dual degree in engineering, from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy, and Finance, from the General Inspectorate of Finances and the Association of Investment Management & Research (certification).

Mr. Ayman Mohamed Soliman is the Chief Executive Officer, The Sovereign Fund of Egypt and brings 22 years of experience managing a group of 200+ companies, spanning a diverse set of industries, with a global investment and transaction record of accomplishment, and a long-standing track record in managing complex assets and running mega transactions. Over the past 17 years, Mr. Soliman served as a board member of a wide range of companies with various capacities with Orascom Investment Holding, Beltone Financial, La Mancha Holding (Gold mining), Euronews plc, RiverBank (SME Banks in Europe), Auerbach Grayson (USA), Texegy (Oil & Gas USA), Ora Developers BV (Real estate), Nile Sugar Co (Egypt), Ezdehar Fund to name a few.

Currently Global Head of Company Engagement and Chief Sustainability Officer for BNP Paribas Corporate & Institutional Banking, my mission has been to foster, shape and support the ambitious and forward-thinking transformation agenda for the bank Corporate and Institutional business, including the digital transformation and the development of our sustainable finance offer, which led the Group to become the world’s leader in Sustainable Finance.

Rafael Matos holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from the Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF) and joined the High Corps of Spanish State Economists and Trade Experts in 2009. He began his professional career in the Directorate General of International Finance of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and subsequently performed the tasks of Senior Advisor to the Minister of Economy and Competitiveness. For five years he was the Economic and Commercial Commissioner of Spain and Executive Director of ICEX in Malaysia and Brunei. From 2019 to 2022, he has served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State for the Environment of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. Mr. Matos has served as a member of the Board of Directors of various companies and investment funds such as the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), Red.es, Spain Business Overseas and the Investment Facility of the European Investment Bank. Since February 2022, Mr. Matos is the director of the Sustainability and Impact Investing division of COFIDES.

Magnus Montan has a long experience of international and Nordic banking at Nordea and HSBC with focus on corporate banking and business development. Previously, he was the Nordic Head of Business Banking at Nordea with responsibility for a workforce of some 2,500 employees and a customer portfolio of more than 500,000 corporate customers. Magnus has also held several senior management roles at HSBC, including Regional Head of Global Trade & Receivables Finance in Latin America, Head of International Business in China, and Head of International Business Strategy in Asia. Magnus Montan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from London School of Economics. He is a Board Member of Nordea Hypotek and Majblommans Riksförbund, a nonprofit national organization with the mission to decrease the impact of child poverty in Sweden. A large part of Magnus Montan’s career has been in international businesses and he has a unique experience of having worked and lived in many of Sweden’s most important export markets in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Nordic countries.

Javier Capapé, PhD is the Director of the Sovereign Wealth Research at the Center for the Governance of Change and Adjunct Professor, at IE University. He earned his PhD from ESADE Business School and the University of Illinois. He has been Consultant at the United Nations Environment Program on Sovereign Wealth Funds and Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2012, he is SovereigNET Research Affiliate at The Fletcher School (Tufts University) and Co-Editor of the Sovereign Wealth Funds Reports series, an initiative backed by ICEX.

He has presented his work on Sovereign Wealth Funds, among others, at the United Nations COP24, the World Bank, Bank of International Settlements, Sciences Po, University of Illinois, Academy of International Business, and the International Finance Corporation. Capapé has attended conferences or specialized courses at Harvard University, London School of Economics, OECD, Aspen Institute, Qatar Investment Authority, International Forum of SWFs, Fondo Strategico Italiano, or Columbia University. He also works connecting Sovereign Wealth Funds with tech-based startups, real estate projects, venture capital and private equity fund managers.

As Head of the Joint SDG Fund, Lisa Kurbiel promotes partnerships with Governments, UN entities, civil society, academia, and the private sector to design and implement integrated policy approaches and financing vehicles to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. She previously served as UNICEF Chief of Advocacy and Partnerships in Kenya and UNICEF Social Policy Specialist in Somalia and Mozambique.