Zainab Usman

Zainab Usman is a Senior Research Scholar and Managing Director for International Programs at the Energy Opportunity Lab at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Her enduring area of expertise is identifying the policies and institutions that enable resource-rich low and middle-income countries to harness their hydrocarbons, minerals, and metals for sustainable economic development. Previously, Zainab was the founding director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC. Zainab has also held senior research and advisory roles at the World Bank, working on lending projects and advising governments and development partners in Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe  and Asia-Pacific.

She is the author of the book Economic Diversification in Nigeria: The Politics of Building a Post-Oil Economy, and co-editor of The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All. Usman contributed to the World Bank’s flagship report on Rethinking Power Sector Reforms in Developing Countries. Her work has appeared in Al-Jazeera English, BBC, Der Spiegel, The Economist, Financial Times, Forbes, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, Project Syndicate, and The Washington Post, among others. Usman holds a DPhil (PhD) from the University of Oxford, an MSc from the University of Birmingham, and a BSc from Ahmadu Bello University.