Andreas Blom is a Manager in the World Bank's Education Global Practice, responsible for the portfolios of 19 countries across the Middle East and North Africa. He leads a team of 30 technical specialists and economists who assist the region's governments with policy advice, financing and technical assistance to improve education and human development. He is passionate about poverty reduction and improvements of well-being through education.
A Danish national, Andreas joined the Bank in 2003 as Education Economist in the Latin American and Caribbean region, where he contributed to student financing institutions which over time has financed over a million students in Colombia, Mexico and Chile. He has since worked in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan on better access and employment outcomes for youth attending vocational and higher education. Further, he was a task team leader of the Africa Centers of Excellence project that supported over 50 higher education centers in critical areas for Africa’s development. Centers that increased enrollment of over 2,000 PhD students and 10,000 master students into more than 30 internationally accredited programs. He further helped expansion of reading programs in Madagascar and Uganda among others. He authored several global and regional studies on the financing of higher education, student loans, quality of education, 21st century skills, and science, technology and innovation. He holds an MA in development economics from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.