Abdullah Jefri

Abdullah Jefri is the Senior Manager for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – excluding Saudi Arabia – at IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. With over 20 years of global experience in finance and investments, he now focuses on enabling high-impact investments from the GCC to emerging markets, helping to diversify GCC economies, and advancing projects that tackle climate change. Previously, Abdullah was IFC’s regional manager for the Levant countries, where he oversaw a billion dollar-plus portfolio and the commitment of over half a billion dollars of new investments in a region including fragile and conflict-affected states such as Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. During his tenure, he led projects that helped increase access to finance, healthcare, and state-of-the art infrastructure as well as secure better opportunities – including for women, entrepreneurs, and forcibly displaced populations. He also oversaw many firsts and groundbreaking deals such as launching the first green bond in Jordan, reducing gas flaring in Iraq by more than a quarter, and investing during the crisis in Lebanon to expand online commerce and create jobs, especially for young people. In addition, he led the rapid growth of IFC’s Amman office by more than doubling its staff and expanding its footprint. Prior to Amman, Abdullah was based in IFC’s Washington, D.C. office for over a decade, where he focused on identifying investment opportunities in emerging markets, executing equity and debt transactions, and managing a portfolio of investments in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. During that period Abdullah led or co-led the execution of over $1.1 billion of investments in emerging markets. His global career has spanned multiple sectors including petrochemicals, fertilizers, manufacturing, agribusiness, healthcare, and education. He has also published several articles on finance, given interviews on sustainable development in international and regional media, and served as CNBC Arabia’s financial advisor and commentator in its weekly financial news bulletin. Prior to IFC, Abdullah was an investment banking manager in the Saudi American Bank (then an affiliate of Citibank, now acquired by Saudi National Bank) and an accounting supervisor in General Dynamics Arabia. Abdullah holds an MBA and an MSc in Finance from Boston College.