Catherine Masinde is the Practice Manager of the East Africa Region in the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice of the World Bank group. Prior to her current position, Catherine was the head of the Trade and Competitiveness advisory program in Eastern Africa. She joined the World Bank Group in 2005 and has since served as Senior Private Sector Development Specialist, Principal Operations Officer, and more recently as Head, Investment Climate Advisory at the IFC covering East and Southern Africa.  She has worked on diverse countries in the region with responsibility for designing and implementing advisory projects in ECA and Africa, served as IFC’s investment climate effort in conflict-affected states in Africa, and as the gender focal point for Investment Climate Advisory in Africa.

Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Catherine worked for 10 years as a Private Sector Advisor at the UK’s Department for International Development in East Africa, managing private sector development programs in a number of areas including business environment, microfinance, and business development services. 

Catherine has previously worked as a Professor of Business and Management at the University of Nairobi, and a researcher and author on enterprise and private sector development related issues. Catherine is a graduate of Durham Business School in the UK. She is currently based in Nairobi, Kenya.