Shane has been with the Government of Alberta since 1998 and joined the Private Sector Liaison Officer (PSLO) Network in 2004. In his current role, he works with Alberta firms interested in working on projects funded by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) including the World Bank Group, Inter-American Development Bank, and Asian Development Bank. This includes organizing IFI business outreach seminars, supporting companies with IFI project business opportunities, and coordinating trade missions to developing countries and to Washington DC. He also oversees the Alberta International Development Office (AIDO), which accesses public sector expertise to partner with the private sector on international development projects.
Shane’s work has been particularly focused on the African region as he aims to expose Alberta companies to frontier markets. . He has co-led a number of multi-national PSLO missions to Africa, including most recently the PSLO mission to Senegal and Ghana in September 2014, which featured meetings with representatives from the World Bank Group local offices, African Development Bank, government implementing agencies, and Senegalese and Ghanaian companies. “Establishing local contacts is essential” affirms Shane, “these missions are a great opportunity to gain insights in the local context and find partners to participate in the business opportunities on IFI-funded projects.” In addition, Shane is active in facilitating best-practice sharing between the Government of Alberta and a number of African governments on topics including oil and gas regulatory policy, environmental best practices, and governance issues.
Considering the knowledge and expertise of Alberta companies in Energy & Extractives, Shane has built a wide network of contacts in this sector and has led the biennial multi-national PSLO Energy Mission to Washington DC since 2010. The most recent energy mission in May 2015 brought together 90 private sector representatives from around the world to meet with energy experts at the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and USAID. The value-added for companies is very evident to Shane: “they get to meet the key decision makers at the Banks and meet potential partners amongst participating companies.” In fact, several companies have gone on to bid together on IFI-financed projects having met on an energy mission.
Shane is also part of the World Bank’s Working Committee on Local Content, a new platform under development within the Energy & Extractives Global Practice, aiming to connect government officials, private sector representatives, academia, and multilateral organizations to foster continuous learning, knowledge exchange, and collaboration on projects.
In his spare time, Shane enjoys spending time with his family and coaching his son’s soccer team.
