Mohamed Manssouri serves as Assistant Director-General and Director of the FAO Investment Centre. An agricultural economist with a BSc and an Engineer/MSc from AgroParisTech, France, he has extensive expertise in food and agriculture investment and finance, rural development, food security, and poverty reduction.
Mr Manssouri leads the FAO Investment Centre, a global multidisciplinary team of more than 200 experts and 500 consultants operating in 120 countries, that provides investment and finance solutions to Member Countries, international and national financial institutions, and public and private investors. The Centre’s work ranges from designing investment strategies and policies to supporting public and private agrifood investment programmes, while spearheading innovative finance mechanisms aimed at de risking and leveraging private investment. The Centre also advances practical knowledge and innovation solutions to strengthen food security, climate resilience, financial inclusion, and the capacity of governments and institutions to make sound investment decisions.
Previously, Mr Manssouri led the Centre’s regional service for Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and Near East, and Latin America and the Caribbean. He also coordinated FAO’s strategic “Commitment to a Hunger Free Horn of Africa,” supporting countries in developing drought resilience strategies and investment plans.
Before joining FAO, he served as Country Director at IFAD, managing investment strategies and portfolios in several countries in West and Central Africa, and played a key role in advancing IFAD’s institutional reforms, including developing its first Knowledge Management Strategy. He also contributed to the UN High Level Task Force on Global Food Security in response to the 2008 food crisis. For several years, he lectured at Roma Tre University, Italy.