President & CEO
ashaikh@paxterrainc.com
Asif M. Shaikh is President & CEO of PaxTerra, a recently-established firm focused on emerging markets private equity, trade and professional services.
As a thought leader who serves on the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) and CSIS, and was on the Executive Committee of the US Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) for six years, Mr. Shaikh’s views are regarded as a key link between policy and practice. He has published extensively and lectured to policy and decision-maker audiences throughout the world. He has led path-breaking field approaches for USAID and other clients in energy, agriculture, food security, governance and national economic policy. His work has had a significant influence on U.S. global development policy as well as on investment strategies throughout the African continent and the developing world. In 2013, Mr. Shaikh received the Society for International Development (the world oldest and largest membership organization for development professionals) Award for Leadership in Development (its highest). He is the only development practitioner ever to be so honored.
Mr. Shaikh has served on numerous oversight and policy boards throughout his career, including for USAID, the World Bank, the National Academy of Sciences, OECD/Club du Sahel, CILSS, ECOWAS, the Office of Technology Assessment, FAO, WMO, World Resources Institute and national governments. He interacts extensively with the United States Congress and Administration Officials, and has addressed a meeting of African Heads of State and multiple gatherings of African Ministers. He has participated on panels with each of the last four USAID Administrators. Among his many publications are the highly-acclaimed Nature, Wealth and Power, Opportunities for Sustained Development, and Dynamic Linkages in Population, Environment and Development (Michigan State University Press).
In the course of his career, before and since IRG, he participated in several OPIC investment missions to Sudan, led a major manufacturing feasibility study in Algeria and served as Fund Leader and CEO for the Vaud Africa Investment Fund.
He is a consistent and constructive critic of traditional development practices who is dedicated to promoting a new paradigm in the pursuit of global prosperity. Throughout his career, he has been an active member of the policy and technical communities in the United States, Europe and in developing countries. Mr. Shaikh holds a Bachelor’s degree from Yale University and an MPhil in Economics from Columbia University. He is and has been affiliated with a number of non-profits organizations: