Amani Abou-Zeid

Dr Amani Abou-Zeid is the twice-elected African Union Commissioner in charge of Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation. She has previously served in leadership positions in international organisations, such as the African Union, African Development Bank, UNDP and USAID, with a focus on infrastructure and energy programmes and championing gender equality and women in STEM. Commissioner Abou-Zeid launched the Single African Air Transport Market, the, African Single Electricity Market to bridge the electricity gap in Africa towards achieving 100% access to electricity by 2040. She also launched Africa’s Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence, Sustainable Fuel for Air Transport, Green fuels strategies and action plans to help Africa leapfrog and expedite its socio-economic development following a sustainable and smart path. She implemented numerous major national and transcontinental infrastructure programmes focusing, embracing technology and climate resilience, ensuring gender equality and engaging with local and global stakeholders to ensure sustainability, effectiveness and impact. An Egyptian national, Dr Abou-Zeid has a multi-disciplinary academic education: B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Cairo University; MBA from Université Senghor); Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard School of Government; and Ph.D. in Social and Economic Development from The University of Manchester, UK. She also has a degree DES in Arts from Université Sorbonne-Paris IV. She received numerous international awards and recognitions for her leadership and excellence: conferred doctorate honoris causa by The University of Manchester,UK; decorated the Wissam Alaouite from Morocco and Ordre du Lion from Senegal, named Personalité d'avenir by Government of France and repeatedly selected one of The Most Influential Women in Africa.