About
Carmine Soprano is a development economist, policy advisor, and academic lecturer with nearly two decades of international experience in trade and transport facilitation, regional integration, private sector development, and their gender dimensions. Throughout his career, he has led research, policy dialogue, technical assistance projects, and investment lending operations in these areas, working with international organisations, multilateral development banks (including the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank), UN agencies, and the WTO. He has worked in more than 30 countries across four continents, including 20 countries in Africa, as well as in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
In parallel with his international development work, Carmine is a senior lecturer in international development, gender economics, and public policy at three leading universities in Rome. He is also a research and policy advisor to Italy’s National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL) and a member of the WTO Gender Research Hub. In 2021, he served as a senior advisor on sustainable finance to Italy’s Ministry of Finance during the Italian G20 Presidency. He is a regular columnist and commentator in leading Italian and international media, and has appeared on the BBC, ABC, TNT, CGTN, and other outlets.
Carmine holds an Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), an “Emerging Leaders” executive certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), and degrees from the University of Rome ''Tor Vergata'' and the University of Naples Federico II. He speaks fluent English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, in addition to his native Italian.
Research interests: trade & transport facilitation, regional integration, geoeconomics & global value chains, SMEs & private sector development, gender equality, social inclusion.