Our People

Dr. Habib Attia is a senior financial sector expert with 25 years of experience across Europe, Africa, and the Arab region, focusing on the financial sector through the lens of international organizations, regulators, and the private sector. He has a proven track record in providing technical assistance, advisory services, and managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects.

Currently, Dr. Attia serves as the Director of Technical Assistance and Resource Mobilization at the Arab Monetary Fund. In this role, he has successfully led several high-profile programs and initiatives, including the design and launch of the Financial Inclusion for the Arab Region Initiative. He also managed the development and implementation of Buna, the cross-border payments system, overseeing all critical phases required to establish this supranational organization. His leadership included setting up and operating a strategic program management office to drive and monitor project streams while managing senior international and regional stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.

From 2010 to 2016, Dr. Attia was a financial sector advisor at the African Development Bank, where he contributed to the establishment of key initiatives such as the MFW4A, the ADFI facility, the long-term finance initiative, and the Boost Africa facility. Prior to that, he spent four years as Development Manager at MicroCred Holding in Paris, a French investment company focused on deposit and credit financial institutions in developing countries. He also worked with CGAP as a Policy Advisory Consultant and served as a Research Officer at the Algerian Banking Commission (Bank of Algeria) from 2000 to 2004, where he was responsible for macro-prudential supervision of banks and non-banking financial institutions.

Dr. Attia holds a PhD in Finance and a master’s in Economic Policy Management from CERDI, University of Auvergne, along with advanced finance and banking qualifications from Algeria. He has completed executive education programs at Harvard Kennedy School, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Cape Town, and the Boulder Microfinance Institute in Italy.

Fluent in French, English, and Arabic, he has authored numerous publications on financial system development. He also serves on various regional and international committees and task forces.