About Professor Mekki Medani El Shibly
Economist, educator, and development strategist: four decades across academia, Arab–African development institutions, and public service.
Professor Mekki Medani El Shibly is a distinguished Sudanese economist, educator, and development strategist whose career spans over four decades across academia, international institutions, and public service. With a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Kent and advanced training at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School, Professor El Shibly has combined intellectual rigor with real-world impact at the highest levels of economic and institutional development in Africa.
He has served in senior leadership roles at institutions such as the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD), and the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID). In these positions, he designed and implemented strategies for food security, trade facilitation, investment climate reform, and rural development. His award-winning research on Afro-Arab food security continues to shape policy discourse.
As former Vice Chancellor of Omdurman Ahlia University and Principal of the University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST), Professor El Shibly has contributed significantly to the advancement of higher education in Sudan. His intellectual roots run deep, as he is the grandson of Sheikh Al-Tahir El Shibly, founder of Sudan's first modern nationalist school, who viewed education as both a path to self-determination and a form of resistance.
Academic excellence and public service
At a glance
Academic positions
- Vice Chancellor, Omdurman Ahlia University (2014-2016)
- Principal, University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) (2009-2014)
- Executive Director, Mamoun Behairy Centre for Economic and Social Studies and Research in Africa (2017-Present)
- Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Khartoum (1980-1984)
- Deputy Chairman & Member, Board of Directors, Al Baraka Bank Sudan (2012-Present)
Public service
- Executive Director, Mamoun Behairy Centre for Economic and Social Studies and Research in Africa (MBC)
- Director, International Cooperation Department, Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD)
- Director, Food Security and Agricultural Integration Department, Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD)
- Senior Economist, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)
- President, Interim Executive Committee for Sudanese Economists Association
Education
- Harvard Kennedy School, Master's Degree in Public Administration, 1983
- Harvard Law School, Certificate of the International Tax Program, 1983
- University of Kent, Canterbury, England, Ph.D. Degree in Economics, 1980
- University of Manchester, Manchester, England, M.A. Degree in Economics, 1977
- University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan, B.Sc. (Honours) Degree in Economics (First Class), 1974