Dr Vera Songwe has been appointed a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences by Pope Leo XIV, placing one of Africa’s most prominent development economists within a Vatican institution that studies global economic, social and political challenges. The appointment, announced on 9 March 2026, brings the former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa into a body that advises the Holy See on issues including economic development, governance and social policy.

Her appointment comes weeks before a scheduled papal visit to Cameroon from 15 to 18 April 2026.

Established in 1994 by Pope St John Paul II, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences promotes research and dialogue in fields such as economics, sociology, law and political science. Its statutes state that the academy provides the Church with analytical tools to develop and apply its social doctrine in contemporary societies. Members are selected on the basis of expertise in the social sciences and recognised moral integrity, and they are not required to be Catholic. Songwe joins a network of global scholars and policy specialists whose work focuses on economic governance, development policy and social transformation.

Songwe has held several senior international positions across multilateral financial and development institutions. She previously served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and as Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations. Earlier in her career, she worked at the World Bank as Regional Director for West and Central Africa at the International Finance Corporation and as Country Director covering Senegal, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania. She also participated in a World Bank Group team that secured a US$49.3 billion concessional financing package for low-income countries under the International Development Association’s sixteenth replenishment. Her research and policy work has focused on fiscal policy, innovative development financing, agriculture, energy and economic governance.

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1968 to Cameroonian parents from Bamendakwe in the North-West Region, Songwe studied economics and political science at the University of Michigan and later obtained a doctorate in mathematical economics from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. She is currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative, chair of the Board of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility, and co-chair of the Food System Economics Commission.

Her career spans policy dialogue and economic programmes across Africa, Asia and other regions, with work in countries including Mongolia, Cambodia, Morocco and the Philippines. The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences increasingly brings together experts involved in international development, climate financing and global economic policy to analyse issues affecting modern societies.

Source: ecofinagency