Ms. Akeel is a Senior Economist in the Middle East and North Africa Finance and Private Sector Development (FPD) unit. Ms. Akeel’s work has focused on developing projects to support innovation, technical assistance and access to diverse forms of financing to small and medium enterprises including early stage equity capital. Prior to joining the FPD unit, Ms. Akeel was an Economist at the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit for the MENA region where she worked on inclusion and access to jobs and opportunity for all.