Ali Saffar is a Fellow at the Energy for Growth Hub. He heads the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America Division at the International Energy Agency. In this role, he works with governments across these regions in support of energy, climate and economic priorities, and serves as a senior advisor to the IEA’s executive management. Earlier in his IEA career he was an energy analyst at the Office of the Chief Economist, where he co-authored seven editions of the IEA’s flagship long-term forecast, the World Energy Outlook.
Ali was formerly the Director of Energy Transition and Climate Action at the Rockefeller Foundation, where his work focused on financing projects to promote energy access and a just and equitable energy transition.
He is a Senior Research Advisor at the University of Oxford’s Technology and Management Centre for Development, and has published widely on pathways to economic diversification in oil and gas producing countries, and has advised governments across the Middle East and North Africa on their energy policies. He teaches the “Energy transition and Climate Change” class at Sciences Po, in France.
He spent his early career at the Economist Intelligence Unit, after graduating from the School of Oriental and African studies in London.