Arkebe Oqubay METIKU

Bio

Arkebe Oqubay (PhD) Former Senior Minister and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia British Academy Global Professor, SOAS University of London Brief Bio Arkebe Oqubay (PhD) is a distinguished scholar-practitioner. He is a former Senior Minister and Special Advisor to the three successive Prime Ministers of Ethiopia and has been at the centre of policymaking for over thirty years. He has been recognised internationally for his innovative and strategic leadership role in Ethiopia’s economic transformation and for championing the country’s pioneering industrial development model, which is being replicated across many African countries. He led extensive infrastructure development programs and coordinated all economic sectors. He has led the boards of key public enterprises, including Ethiopian Airlines. He is a former Mayor of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and was named The African Mayor of the Year 2005 by ABN and a finalist of the World Mayor Award 2005 for transforming the city. He currently serves as board chair of several leading public organisations and international advisory boards. He is a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star presented by the Emperor of Japan. He was recognised as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2016 and a 'leading thinker on Africa's strategic development' by the NewAfrican for his work, both theoretical and practical, on industrial policies. He was also Africa’s sole candidate for the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), unanimously endorsed by the African Union. He holds the British Academy Global Professor position at SOAS University of London, leading pioneering research on the greening of Africa’s economic development. Dr Arkebe currently gives policy advice to, and consults for, African governments and international organisations. He has extensively published ten books with Oxford University Press, including Made in Africa (2015) and The Oxford Handbook on the Greening of Economic Development (2025). Dr Arkebe has numerous affiliations with international think tanks, including the UN World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU WIDER), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and is a distinguished professor at Fudan University, Nanyang Technological University, University of Johannesburg and the University of Cape Town. He holds a PhD in Development Studies from SOAS, University of London