Our Staff
Eva Jenkner
Position: Center Director
Ms. Eva Jenkner, a national of Germany, joined AFRTIAC West 2 as Director in September 2021. She is an economist with more than 20 years of experience in the implementation of macroeconomic policies across Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, and Asia. Her experience includes emerging market economies (Albania, Hungary, Mexico, Peru, Serbia, Sri Lanka) and low-income/fragile states (Honduras, Nicaragua, West Bank and Gaza). It encompasses all aspects of IMF country work and capacity development support to member countries, primarily on public expenditure policies and fiscal sustainability. On leave from the IMF, Ms. Jenkner went on two external assignments with the Ministry of Finance of Georgia in Tbilisi, Georgia (2004-2005); and with UNICEF Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2009-2010), respectively. Her research interests include gender, growth, and social expenditures. She holds a BA (Hons) degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge and an MPA in Economics and Public Policy from Princeton University.
Vitus C. Ukwuoma
Position: Regional Advisor
Mr. Vitus Ukwuoma joined the AFRITAC West2 in March 2019 as a Regional Advisor in Financial Regulation and Supervision. He began his financial supervision career as a bank examiner with the Maryland State Bank Commissioner’s Office, United States. He later joined the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System where he worked for well over 18 years in various capacities, including the responsibility for directing the supervisory oversight of more than 800 commercial banks during the 2007 financial crisis. In the last five years he served as a Resident Advisor in Financial Regulation and Supervision to the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Sierra Leone. He holds a BS degree in Accounting and an MBA degree in Finance, and he is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of Maryland.
Gani K. Gerguri
Position: Regional Advisor
Mr. Gani Gerguri joined AFRITAC West 2 (AFW2) in August 2020 as a Regional Advisor in Monetary Policy and Foreign Exchange Operations, and Payment Systems. He began his central banker career in 1984 as an Analyst for monetary analysis with the National Bank of Kosovo. He later joined the Central Bank of Kosovo where he worked for over 14 years, initially as a Director of Research and Statistics, then Chief Operations Officer, Deputy Governor for Central Bank Operations and at the end as a Governor. In the last six years he served as a Resident Advisor on modernizing monetary and financial stability frameworks to the Central Bank of Suriname and the Bank of Sierra Leone. He holds a BS degree in Economic Development and an MBA degree in Finance.
Pamela Audi
Position: Regional Advisor
Pamela Audi is the Real Sector Statistics Advisor at the AFW2. Previously, she worked at the IMF- East AFRITAC in the same capacity and has worked with the Fund as short-term expert for several years. She also worked at the Kenya National Bureau of statistics (KNBS) for 20 years where she actively championed implementation of programs to develop and improve national accounts statistics. She has experience in working with several African countries, through various international institutions (development partners), in building capacity and supporting implementation in the subject area.
Philip Wood
Position: Regional Advisor
Mr. Philip Wood is a Customs and Strategic Management expert with 37 years of experience in more 45 countries. Philip was previously a member of HM Revenue and Customs in the United Kingdom as the Large Business Change Program Manager with responsibility for the co-ordination and program management of key strategic change projects delivering benefits of over $4 billion in additional tax revenue. and has obtained a wide experience of customs work. As a graduate of the Civil Service Fast Stream Development Program, he has been appointed to roles at administrative, operational, and senior management levels, including administrative management of customs operations at London Heathrow and compliance management (VAT, Excise & Corporation Tax) for some of the UK’s largest and most complex businesses. During a period of secondment to the private sector, Philip was the Project Manager for a Customs Reform & Modernization Program in West Africa which delivered over 200 percent increase in customs revenues. Most recently Philip has worked as the Resident Customs Advisor for AFW2 (two years) and AFS (five years). Philip is a registered PRINCE2™ Practitioner and has worked for the World Customs Organization, IMF, USAID, EU, and the World Trade Organization to deliver change management and knowledge strategies for entities in Central Europe, Caribbean, Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
Idia Masehlomeng Penan
Position: Regional Advisor
Ms. Idia Masehlomeng Penane has over 15 years’ experience in revenue administration. She was part of the inaugural management team at the Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) where she served as a Chief Information Officer in charge of Information Technology and Business Process Management. She has also held the position of Chief Planning and Modernization Officer at the RSL where she led Strategy, Research and Development, Project Management and Revenue Performance Forecasting, Monitoring and Reporting functions. She spearheaded the tax and customs modernization programs in Lesotho and led the implementation of Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) and Customs systems. She acted for a time as the Commissioner General for the RSL and headed a Parastatal responsible for developing small and medium businesses in Lesotho as the Chief Executive Officer. In addition, she has been a short-term expert for IMF over the past few years, assisting countries in areas such as strategy formulation, reform governance and implementation, and systems review. Before joining ARFITAC West she worked as a resident tax administration advisor at the Malawi Revenue Authority. She has a Masters in International Business Administration and a Bachelor of Management Information Systems from the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya.
Rehemah Namutebi
Position: Regional Adviser
Rehemah a Chartered Accountant (ACCA) and Project Management Professional (PMP) brings to the team versed experience in PFM. Formerly, the Head of National Budget in the Ministry of Finance and Economic planning of Rwanda for over 7 years and previously the Fund Manager of the Fund for Environment and Climate Change of Rwanda (FONERWA). Head of Finance and Contributions department in Rwanda Social Security Board a State-Owned Entity managing both pension and medical insurance, before which she was the Director of Quality Assurance and Internal Audit Department of the same institution. In all her career, Rehemah has been pioneering different PFM reforms.
Phyllis Ndunge Makau
Position: Regional Adviser
Phyllis Ndunge Makau is a public finance expert with over 35 years of experience in public sector budgeting, expenditure control and monitoring. She has vast experience in economic policy analysis and research, strategic planning & management, public investment program appraisal, project development, cash management, fiscal reporting, monitoring and evaluation, budget oversight and public expenditure scrutiny by legislature and financial legislation. from 2012 – 2022, she served as a director of the Parliamentary Budget Office in Kenya, a legislative technical unit that advises legislators on budget and matters economy, created from a small unit in 2007 to a fully pledged directorate recognized not only in Kenya but world-wide for its independence in analysis and advisory functions. She has worked as a short-term expert with the IMF for several countries within Africa. She holds a Master of Arts in Economics, Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Investment Appraisal and Management, Financial Policy and Economic Development, and several other qualifications on public finance, strategic planning and leadership and mentorship. Her published works include: The Parliamentary Budget Oversight in Kenya, “Analysis of the Framework and Practice since 1963 to 2007: Understanding Economic Reforms (Kenya) published in the book “A Tale of Seven Nations 2006"; among others.
Pokuaa Adu
Position: Economist/Special Project Officer
Ms. Pokuaa Adu has been appointed as the AFRITAC West2 Local Economist/Special Projects Officer after working with the Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation Unit of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research at the University of Ghana. Her experience spans a variety of fields and sectors, having worked as a Teaching Assistant at Brandeis University and performed data analysis for United for a Fair Economy, a non-profit organization in Boston, Massachusetts. Pokuaa has varied experience in project management, impact evaluation, survey design, data analysis and reporting, capacity building and training in research methods and software. Her most recent research activities have been in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Her interests include International Trade Facilitation, Impact Evaluation, International Economics and Finance, Economic Development, Policy Analysis, Poverty, Inequality and Sustainable Development.
Elorm Darkey
Position: Project Officer
Elorm Darkey recently joined the AFRITAC WEST 2 Team as a Results-Based Management (RBM) Project Officer. His primarily role is to provide hands on support in the implementation of the Fund’s RBM framework. He has collaborated with teams across boundaries in various economic projects where he provided program management, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and co-ordination. Elorm also has an extensive research background in economics- notably in fiscal policy, sustainable development and inclusive growth/wealth. He holds undergraduate and graduate research degrees in Economics, Mathematics and Political Science
Janice Norman
Position: Office Manager
Janice's professional experience spans from both international and local cultures in the fields of administration, communication and marketing, human resource and eventually in finance and banking before joining the Center on January 6, 2014.
Maria Adam
Position: Senior Administrative Officer
Maria Adam is the Administrative Assistant for the AFRITAC West 2. Before joining the AFRITAC West 2 office she worked with Vodafone Ghana as a customer service representative for over a year and also with the Ghana Internal Revenue Service as their data system person.
Charles Putier Kunfaa
Position: Administrative Assistant/IT Officer
Charles Putier Kunfaa occupied the role of Admin/IT Officer in January 2022. Prior to joining the center, he worked with Ericsson for over 5 years in Ghana and across the West African sub-region and the Australian High Commission as ICT System Admin and Assistant Facilities Manager for nearly 5 years. He specializes in the areas of Telecommunication, ICT, IT service management and Project Management. He holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, a Master of Business Administration and is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and ITILv4 professional.
Eugenia K. Bamfo
Position: Administrative Assistant
Eugenia K. Bamfo, a Ghanaian national, joined AFRITAC West 2 in January 6, 2020 as Administrative Assistant. Her professional experience spans from banking through to the shipping sector. She has over 6 years of working experience as an Administrative Assistant. Before her appointment to AFRITAC West 2, she worked in same capacity for United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Gulf Marine & Logistics Ltd.
Abdul-Karim Abdulai
Position: Driver
Abdul-Karim Abdulai was born in Tamale. He has 25 years of experience as a driver and worked with World Bank staff from 2016 until recently. He joined the AFW2 Center in July 2021 and is married with 3 children.