Keynote SpeakerPaul Collier

Paul Collier is one of the world’s leading experts on developing markets and financial opportunities within the poorest countries, and an innovative thinker about Europe’s migrant crisis.

Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Oxford University. He is currently advisor to the Strategy and Policy Department of the International Monetary Fund, advisor to the Africa Region of the World Bank, where he previously served as Director of the Development Research Group, and advisor to the British Government on economic development policy. Collier was also the principal designer of the Compacts with Africa initiative of the German presidency of the 2017 G20, which is focused on attracting private investment to Africa. He is currently co-directing the Commission on State Fragility, chaired by David Cameron and Donald Kaberuka.

Paul Collier regularly writes columns and commentary for publications such as the Financial Times. His bestselling book, The Bottom Billion has been compared to Jeffrey Sachs’s The End of Poverty in its scope and impact. He is also the author of Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, The Plundered Planet: Why We Must – and How We Can – Manage Nature for Global Prosperity Exodus: How Migration is Changing Our World, boldly confronts one of the greatest challenges of the century. His most recent book, Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System (2017, co-authored with Alex Betts) is about new economic responses to refugees.

“Paul Collier is a brilliant mind with a keen understanding of the modern world’s obstacles to progress. In The Plundered Planet, Collier tackles some of the most difficult questions of our time, and offers an insightful framework for effectively managing our world’s natural resources. Collier’s book is an important meditation on how we can build a world that is more equal, more sustainable, and more prosperous for all humankind.”
– President Bill Clinton