Mr. Muhtar previously served as Executive Director on the Board of the World Bank Group (2011-2014) as well as Co-Chair of the UN Inter-Governmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Finance (2013-2014). He has served as Minister of Finance for the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as Chairman of the National Economic Management team (2008-2010), as Executive Director, African Development Bank (2007-2008) and as Director-General of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (2003-2007).

Earlier in his career, he was Senior Lecturer and Head of the Economics department at Bayero University in Nigeria and served for a decade in various positions at the World Bank headquarters, including as the Senior Economist and Administrator on the Young Professionals Program. He has also served as Deputy General Manager, Strategic Management and Economics division, United Bank for Africa Plc. And as a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for the Study of Economies of Africa in Abuja.

Mr. Muhtar holds a doctorate degree in Economics from the University of Sussex in the UK and a masters degree in the Economics and Politics of Development from the University of Cambridge. He is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, and King’s College, Lagos.

He has attended numerous leadership and professional development courses at the Kennedy School, Harvard University; the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and the Singapore Civil Service Administrative College. Mr. Muhtar is a recipient of the Nigeria National Honors Award – Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) – for his contribution to national development.

Prior to joining the IDB, Mr. Jouini was Managing Director of the consulting firm MNJ Consulting. His experience spans strategy, development, economics, finance and international relations and he has held key positions in the Tunisian government, including as Minister of Planning, Investment and International Cooperation.

Between 2002 and 2011 Mr. Jouini sat on the Board of Governors of the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the IDB, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development, and the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation.

Mr. Jouini received his PhD in Decision Sciences from the University of Oregon and is a former director of the Sousse (Tunisia) Higher Institute of Management. He has also served on the faculty at the University of Tunis. He is a recipient of the Tunisian National Order of Merit for Education and Sciences.

Dr. Waleed Abdulmohsen Al-Wohaib is the Director General, Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD).

Dr. Al-Wohaib, was the Chief Executive Officer of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. He has also occupied a number of positions in the Kuwaiti public sector, including Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Affairs from 1993 to 1994.

Prior to this he was Vice Assistant for Administrational Development Affairs in the Civil Service Department and also worked as Assistant Director for Research and Developmental Affairs in the Kuwait Municipality.

In 1994 Dr. Al-Wohaib represented Kuwait at the World Trade Organization membership signing ceremony in Marrakesh.

Strengths and achievements

Dr. Al-Wohaib’s strengths are leadership, strategic administration skills and the ability to solve complex issues. In addition, he has consultancy expertise in the field of administration and organizational psychology. He is known for his ability to motivate and support successful achievement, both internally and externally, and for his objectivity in accomplishing the higher purpose.

While in the Kuwaiti Civil Service Department, Dr. Al-Wohaib made an outstanding contribution to the establishment of the Human Resources Development Center. Other achievements in the social, academic and political areas include preparation of the Independent Municipalities Law and the organizational structure development project.

He has taught Public Policy at the University of Kuwait and has conducted many training courses and workshops in Kuwait and the USA on educational topics including success skills, self development, performance measurement and strategic planning.

Dr. Al-Wohaib obtained his Doctorate and Masters degrees, specializing in Public Administration, from the University of California in 1985 and 1989, and his Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kuwait.

Prior to joining the IDB, Mr. Iqbal served at the World Bank for 25 years, latterly as head of the World Bank’s Global Islamic Finance Development Center in Istanbul. His experience spans the capital markets, asset management and risk management. Islamic finance has been his research focus and he has co-authored several articles and books on Islamic finance on the topics of banking risk, financial inclusion, economic development, financial stability and risk-sharing. He played an instrumental role in the publication of the World Bank’s and the IDB’s first global report on Islamic finance. He earned his Ph.D. in international finance from the George Washington University and served as Professional faculty at the Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins University.

Sayed Aqa, Afghan national, is currently Vice President - Administration at Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).

An Engineer by education with a Master's degree in Business Administration, he has been engaged in humanitarian and development work at senior levels for the past three decades. He worked with a number of non-government organizations (NGOs) including The United Nations (UN) prior to joining IsDB. Aqa is also the founder of two NGOs in Afghanistan.

He joined the Bank as Vice President for Cooperation & Capacity Development in May 2015. In that role, he was responsible for managing the Departments of Cooperation & Integration; Capacity Development; Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD); Special Assistance; and Trust Funds.

Later, he served IsDB as VP – Cooperation and Country Programming before becoming VP – Administration. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing relationships with member countries. He passionately focused on expanding the partnerships beyond the traditional multilateral development banks to other regional and international development partners such as United Nations agencies, European Union, African Union, etc.

He emphasizes on aligning the bank operations with the needs of IsDB’s member countries and ensuring the application of these goals and operations are accomplished under the Islamic principles of inclusivity, sustainability and equality. He aims to integrate IsDB’s goals with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Among his major priorities as a VP – Administration is to develop human capacity at the institutional level. He aims to develop policies that do not only focus on hardware aspects of the development but also on the soft elements of human development at the Bank. His other priority is to strengthen the performance of result-oriented culture.

He has many feathers in his cap. Among his major achievements throughout his career, his leading role in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is worth mentioning. As a member of the Steering Committee of the ICBL, Sayed Aqa represented ICBL in the award ceremony of the 1997 Nobel Peace prize to ICBL.

He has worked with heads of the states and at ministerial level offices in many countries dealing with complex sustainable human development, conflict and post-conflict developmental challenges. His extensive travel in several countries equipped him with practical field, cultural and diplomatic skills. During his tenure at the UN, both at the Headquarters and in the field, Sayed Aqa had managed projects in 32 conflict and post-conflict countries in five continents.

Sayed Aqa has also served as Advisor to many international and inter-governmental organizations, including the European Union, Peace Research Institute of Oslo, and various UN Agencies in the field of humanitarian and development cooperation.