Africa - People

His primary responsibilities include supporting the Vice President of the Africa Region in delivering her regional and corporate accountabilities, in close collaboration with country directors; overseeing execution of the agreed strategic agenda and monitoring regional deliverables (including commitments under IDA15); and coordinating key strategic partnerships such as with the African Union and African Development Bank, and Governments of Japan and United Kingdom. Operations in the 48 countries that comprise Sub-Saharan Africa currently account for a portfolio of around $23.3 billion. Last year alone, $$5.68 billion was committed for 91 new projects.

Over the years his work has focused on country and sector specific development challenges as well as broader issues of aid effectiveness. For example, in India during the last 1990s he worked on fiscal decentralization, structural reforms, and rural finance. As Senior Manager in the World Bank’s Operational Policy and Country Services Division during 2001-2005, Mr. Bruce served as co-chair within the global working group on aid effectiveness and donor practices set up by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. He also chaired the global steering group that was responsible for the ministerial forum on aid effectiveness held in Paris in March 2005, and for the resulting Paris Declaration.

Mr. Bruce holds a Ph.D in Economics from McGill University in Canada and a Bachelors Degree in Economics and Public Administration from London University. He is married and has a teenage daughter and adolescent son.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Wormser was Sector Director for both the Sustainable Development Network and, before that, for the Finance, Private Sector and Infrastructure Network for the Africa Region where he oversaw the region’s largest sectoral portfolio, supporting projects in energy, urban development, water supply, water resource management, transport, financial sector and private sector development. Previously, he was Senior Advisor to the Vice President, Private Sector Development, and in 2000 became Director of the Project Finance & Guarantees Department

During his early years at the Bank, Michel held a number of positions—from Principal Financial Specialist to Division Chief—across a number of units including the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) East Asia Department, the World Bank’s South Asia Industrial Finance Division, and the World Bank’s Energy Projects Department.

For a two-year period, between 1996 and 1998, Mr. Wormser joined Société Générale (SG) under the World Bank staff exchange program. As Director of SG’s Project Finance Department, he was responsible for advising and arranging limited recourse financing of power projects, including Azito, a 220 MW Independent Power Producer in Cote d’Ivoire, using a combination of IFC instruments and the first IDA partial risk guarantee to catalyze private financing for this infrastructure project.

Mr. Wormser has a diploma from Ecole Superieure de Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (France) and an MBA (Finance and Accounting) from UC Berkeley.

Prior to this assignment, from 2004 onwards, Shanta was Chief Economist for the South Asia Region position, following three years as Chief Economist for the Human Development Network, which covers areas such as health, education, nutrition and population. Earlier positions include Principal Economist and Research Manager for Public Economics in the Development Research Group. He was the Director of the World Development Report 2004: Making Services Work for Poor People.

Before joining the Bank, Shanta was on the faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The author and co-author of over 100 publications, Mr. Devarajan’s research covers public economics, trade policy, natural resources, and the environment, and general equilibrium modeling of developing countries.

Mr. Devarajan received his B.A. in mathematics from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He speaks French fluently

From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Tall served as the World Bank’s Country manager for Cameroon, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. Known for his team-building skills, it was during this period, in 2003, that Mr. Tall was recipient of the World Bank’s Staff Association Good Manager Award. Earlier assignments include Senior Economist, Lead Operations Officer and Senior Agriculture Economist in the Middle East and North Africa Region.

Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Tall worked as a Program Officer and Researcher for AFRICARE, a Washington-based NGO.

Mr. Tall holds graduate degrees in Economics, specializing in Agricultural Economics and Natural Resources Economics, from the University of Maryland and the University of West Virginia in the United States. He speaks fluent English, French, Fula and Manding.

Prior to assuming his current position, Onno was Manager for the Africa Region’s Results and Learning Group, charged with monitoring and enhancing the effectiveness and results of the region’s operations, together with staff learning. Earlier positions include Advisor to the Private Sector and Infrastructure Network, Country Manager for the DRC, and Lead and Principal Private Sector Development Specialist. He also worked in the Europe and Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa Regions as a Senior Guarantee Officer. He has worked extensively during his Bank career on regional trade facilitation projects and in the area of privatization.

Onno joined the Bank from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Washington DC, where he was Second Secretary (EC), and Alternate Director for the Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). He was an Economist at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Ruhl has an MA in Macroeconomics and International Economic Relations from the University of Amsterdam.

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