Ms. Boutheina Guermazi is the World Bank Director for Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa since October 2021. In this position, she oversees the implementation of the World Bank Group¡¯s regional integration strategy and leads the policy dialogue and partnership with regional organizations, country clients, and partners.
Prior to her role as Director for Regional Integration, Ms. Boutheina Guermazi was the Director of Digital Development (DD) Department of the Infrastructure Practice Group of the World Bank. She headed a global team working on building digital economies in developing countries, to drive shared prosperity and reduced poverty. The team advised policymakers and regulators, worked in collaboration with leading firms and partners, and designed investment and technical assistance programs to improve broadband connectivity and use of digital technology to address development challenges of client countries. The work covered a wide area of focus including broadband networks, mobile networks, cloud infrastructure, internet of things, and big data analytics. The team worked collaboratively across sectors to ensure the availability and use of digital government platforms, identification for development and other key foundations to harness digital development, while strengthening cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection. Ms. Guermazi also leaded the Digital Development Partnership (DDP), a Multi-Donor Trust Fund focusing on Digital development globally.
Prior to her role as Director, Ms. Guermazi was Practice Manager of Digital Development covering Africa and the Middle East regions of the World Bank. She also served as Lead Operations Officer in the Regional Integration Unit of the Africa region of the World Bank. During her tenure, she has written and published articles and book chapters on trade law, telecommunications policy, and regulatory reform.
Before joining the World Bank, Ms. Guermazi was Assistant Professor at the University of Law and Political and Social Sciences of Tunis, and a Telecommunications consultant to the Sector Reform Unit at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Ms. Guermazi holds a Ph.D. in Telecommunications Law and Policy from the Faculty of Law at McGill University, Canada; an L.L.M. in International Law from Indiana University, USA; and a Bachelor¡¯s Degree in Public Law from the University of Tunis, Tunisia. She held a Fulbright Scholarship and was a research scholar at the University of Michigan (USA), the Social Science Research Council (USA), and the Center of Studies for Regulated Industries (Canada).