Austin Kilroy is a Private Sector Development Specialist in the Trade & Competitiveness practice of the World Bank. He currently works with several South African cities on city economic development, is the task manager for a private sector competitiveness project in Swaziland, and jointly leads a team to consolidate and improve knowledge on city competitiveness. Previously he worked in Nigeria, Lesotho, China, Mozambique, Haiti, Vietnam, Brazil, Kenya, and Georgia. He completed a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and a BA in Economics and Politics from the University of Cambridge, UK. Austin began his career working in politics for the Liberal Democrats in the Houses of Parliament in London, and is originally from the United Kingdom.