Suleiman Namara is the Practice Manager for Social Protection & Jobs (SPJ) for East and Southern Africa. He leads a team of World Bank staff delivering innovative programs, analytic and advisory services on social protection and jobs. He is based in Nairobi- Kenya.
Prior to this assignment, he was the Lead Social Protection Specialist based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he was involved in scaling up several innovative systems-based safety nets and jobs programs. Before this, he was a member of the World Bank Sudan reengagement team based in Khartoum where he led the design and implementation of the Sudan Family Support Program and the Sudan Emergency SafetyNet’s Project. Between 2018 to 2020, he was based in Dhaka, Bangladesh where he coordinated the World Bank’s Response to the Rohingya Crisis. Prior to this, he was a Senior Social Protection Economist in the South Asia SPJ team working on Bangladesh and Pakistan. He has also worked as World Bank Senior Social Protection Economist for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone during the period 2012 to 2016 where among other tasks, he served as part of the World Bank’s Ebola Crisis Response team. Suleiman started his World Bank career at the Uganda Country Office in 2004, during which period he provided cross support for Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Eritrea and South Sudan SPJ programming. Prior to the World Bank, he was the Executive Director of the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda. He also served in the Government of Uganda Public Service in various ministries – his last posting was Principal Economist in the Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda. Suleiman holds a PhD in Economics, a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, a post graduate Diploma in Education and a B.Sc. in Economics and Statistics, all from Makerere University Kampala, Uganda.