LSE IDEAS announces a new Associate
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Roli Asthana has joined LSE IDEAS as an Associate!
LSE IDEAS is delighted to announce the appointment of Roli Asthana as an Associate of LSE IDEAS. With her considerable experience in development and economic security, we are confident she will make a significant contribution to our understanding of these important areas.
Professor Chris Alden, Director of LSE IDEAS
Dr Roli Asthana is a political economist, development diplomat and senior advisor with three decades of experience in economic diplomacy, global governance, and international cooperation across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She specialises in international political economy and economic diplomacy, state capability and institutional reform, development and climate finance, and the multilateral rules‑based system. She has held senior leadership roles in government and multilateral institutions, and worked in think tanks, academia and philanthropy.
A central pillar of Roli’s work is economic diplomacy and the reform of the international financial system. She has advised governments and multilaterals on global financial governance, debt sustainability, illicit finance, domestic revenue mobilisation, and the evolving mandates of multilateral development banks. Her work spans macroeconomic reform, public financial management, and the design of financing instruments that strengthen fiscal resilience. She brings a politically informed understanding of how financial rules, power dynamics and institutional incentives shape development outcomes for the Global South.
Roli’s work is grounded in a deep first‑hand understanding of global power shifts and their implications for Asia and Africa. For nearly 20 years, she has worked extensively on Asia–Africa relations, including China–Africa and India–Africa partnerships and development cooperation. She has worked on trilateral and multilateral policy and programmes on climate, global health, development finance, trade and investment, infrastructure and regional connectivity, climate transitions, and digital governance. Her diplomatic and development leadership roles in China and India give her a rare dual vantage point on how major Asian powers engage African states and how African governments can navigate a more contested, multipolar world.
She brings significant expertise in energy and climate, including climate and nature finance, just energy transitions, risk and resilience, and innovative financing mechanisms such as blended finance, catalytic capital and results‑based financing. Her advisory work spans green jobs, renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, and the design of multi‑stakeholder climate funds — all central to Africa’s economic security and long‑term resilience.
Roli is also developing a growing portfolio on digital futures, including digital sovereignty, data governance and AI cooperation. This work builds on earlier experience advising governments on digital public infrastructure and the geopolitics of emerging technologies and complements Africa’s evolving digital policy landscape.
Across her career, Roli has held senior UK Government positions including Head of DFID/Development Counsellor in China, Deputy Head of DFID India, DFID’s Asia Regional Lead, and Africa Regional Economic Growth & Integration Adviser. She has also served as UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan, Senior Director for Economic Development at Abt Britain Global, Programme Officer at the Ford Foundation, and held academic and research positions at the London School of Economics and the University of East Anglia. She is an Associate Research Fellow at Chatham House, contributing to global debates on development finance, multilateralism, G20 and BRICS dynamics, and the UK’s international strategy, and a Senior Research Associate at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). She serves as a Senior Advisor at ODI Global Advisory as well as advising institutions in China and India.
Her work is informed by strong international networks across international development, geoeconomics & geopolitics and global governance, and she is a frequent contributor to policy research, commentary and high‑level dialogues. She has published with ODI, CGD, Chatham House, LSE and UCL Policy Lab, and is an experienced communicator across media and public forums.
Roli holds a PhD in Political Economy and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, where she was a Commonwealth and ODA Scholar, and a BA in Economics from St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi.