Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Rania Al-Mashat

Founding contributors

Rania Al-Mashat
UN Under-Secretary-General & Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission of West Asia (UNESCWA), Egypt’s former Minister of Planning, Economic Development & International Cooperation and Minister of Tourism

Rania A. Al-Mashat was appointed UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on April 20, 2026. Al-Mashat is an international expert in economic diplomacy, bringing over 25 years of experience in macroeconomic policy; central banking and monetary policy frameworks, sustainable economic and social development; structural and institutional reform, development cooperation, development and climate finance, driving climate action and gender equality through international cooperation and partnerships. She served for eight consecutive years (2018-2026) as Minister across three key portfolios: Tourism (first female), International Cooperation, and Planning, Economic Development & International Cooperation. Before her ministerial positions, Al-Mashat served as Sub-Governor for Monetary Policy at the Central Bank of Egypt (2005-2016), where she played a key role in modernizing the bank's monetary policy strategy. Her experience also includes working as Advisor to the Chief Economist and Senior Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C (2016-2018, 2001-2005). She has been a board member and advisory member of several international alliances, international financial and development institutions. Al-Mashat has operated at the intersection of policy, finance, international and development cooperation and had to manage complex domestic and geopolitical dynamics that influence institutional strategy and execution, while safeguarding predictability and credibility; all while leading institutions during times of change. A strong advocate of multilateralism, she has a proven track record of advancing impactful, partnership-driven national and global initiatives and has advanced innovative approaches to international cooperation and development finance through country-led multi-stakeholder engagement frameworks. She holds a PhD and MA in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, and a BA in Economics from the American University in Cairo and completed executive education programs in Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School and Oxford University's Saïd Business School. Her academic contributions, including publications with the IMF and the London School of Economics, reflect her commitment to bridging policy, research, and practice.

Content by this Author

Inflation targeting and exchange rate flexibility in Egypt

The degree of exchange rate flexibility within an inflation targeting framework matters in emerging economies. This column reports research that quantifies the impact of different approaches to the conduct of monetary policy on inflation and output variability in Egypt.

Economic policy management: a new framework for MENA countries

There is a clear need for MENA countries to create policy frameworks that will improve the credibility and effectiveness of economic policy-making. This column outlines the main institutional weaknesses that must be addressed, and the six key elements of a well-structured framework for economic policy management.

Most read

Beyond job creation: how can Egypt’s gender gap in work be closed?

More than 2 million jobs are needed each year to absorb new entrants into Egypt’s labour market and raise the country’s employment rate. The job challenge is even more acute for women, whose labour force participation remains low despite recent gains in education. This column reports on the second Development Dialogue, an ERF–World Bank Group joint initiative, which brought together students, scholars, policy-makers and private sector leaders at the American University in Cairo to consider how the country’s gender gap in work can be closed.

Digitalisation, global value chains and regional integration in MENA & SSA

Participation in global value chains is vital for countries pursuing structural transformation and inclusive economic development. This column summarises new evidence on how much production processes have been globalised in Africa and the Middle East relative to other regions; whether this process has taken place with partners within or outside the region; and whether it has taken place more in manufacturing or services.

How trade policy can reduce MENA’s cereal import vulnerability

Heavy dependence on imported cereals, combined with climate change, water scarcity and geopolitical uncertainty, continues to threaten food resilience across MENA. This column explains how an inclusive trade policy can play a key role in making the region’s food security less vulnerable to shocks.

The political economy of algorithms in the Middle East

The Middle East is entering a new political-economic era – one in which algorithms, data and artificial intelligence may become as strategically important as oil once was. Across the region, governments are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, smart governance and AI-driven economic transformation. This column outlines how AI and algorithmic governance are reshaping power, inequality and state capacity in the region.

The risks of a two-speed AI economy in MENA

Much of the debate about artificial intelligence in the Middle East and North Africa focuses on how many jobs it will replace. As this column explains, the more important challenge is that the new technology is likely to create a two-speed labour market, where countries with the capacity to invest in digital infrastructure and skills move rapidly ahead while others struggle to keep pace. Unless governments combine credible national reforms with targeted regional cooperation, AI could widen, not reduce, the economic divides across MENA.

Sanctions and conflict: why corruption changes the equation

Why do sanctions produce such different political outcomes across the countries that have been targeted? This column reports research examining the role of pre-existing corruption in shaping the relationship between sanctions and subsequent conflict or political instability. The evidence indicates that trade sanctions are associated with higher conflict-related deaths where pre-existing corruption is high.

From mega-investment to mega-productivity: closing MENA’s conversion gap

Across the Middle East and North Africa, governments are investing heavily in infrastructure, technology, diversification and new industries. Yet capital accumulation alone does not guarantee productivity growth. As this column argues, the region’s deeper challenge is its ‘investment-to-productivity conversion gap’: ensuring that large-scale investment translates consistently into stronger firms, technological diffusion, skills and better jobs. A different metric of success is required: not how much capital is deployed, but how much productive capability that capital leaves behind.

Why energy efficiency still struggles to attract finance in Egypt

Egypt has reduced energy subsidies and gradually adjusted domestic energy prices toward cost-recovery levels, improving the economic case for energy efficiency investments – but financing has not kept pace. Drawing on structured interviews with banks, developers and public officials, this column traces why energy efficiency projects in the country still struggle to attract capital, and sets out how a ‘financing ladder’ used elsewhere – from revolving funds to risk guarantees to green bonds – could close the gap.

The weak bread chain: cereal supply risks in six MENA economies

The Middle East and North Africa is one of the most food-import-dependent regions of the world, particularly for staple cereals such as barley, maize and wheat, and particularly in six countries – Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia. As this column reports, diversifying import sources has become an essential strategy for strengthening food security and improving resilience to geopolitical and climate-related disruptions.




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