Herbert Francisco Curry Arceo is a Senior Consultant in the Office of the Vice President, Africa Region at the World Bank Group. He manages the US$250 million Africa Catalytic Growth Fund which provides financing for programs and operations in Sub-Saharan Africa. He also managed Plan Africa – a US$33 million debt-for-development swap fund. The two portfolios comprise 18 operations in 19 countries that support various sectors, address obstacles to growth, and strengthen the position of vulnerable populations in fragile and conflict affected states. He has program and operational experience in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

 

While a member of the Office of the Chief Economist, Africa Region, Herbert supported a research initiative to ascertain the nexus of the private sector and development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The research clarified how motivations informed approaches and how these affected the scale and sustainability of interventions undertaken by the various organizations. He also supported the Office by authoring the AFRCE’s IDA15 retrospective.

 

Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Herbert spent 15 years in the private sector devising strategies, developing business models, and implementing marketing and logistics initiatives in Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Haiti, Puerto Rico, as well as the USA. His industry and sector experience spans fast moving consumer goods, food and agriculture, apparel, metals, tourism, and pharmaceuticals.

 

Additional to promoting equality of opportunity and economic growth, Herbert has actively supported efforts to ensure environmental sustainability. To this end, he has joined teams of biologists, sociologists, geologists that have undertaken studies of the crocodile population in the Yucatán Peninsula as well as a survey of fauna across northern Mexico.

 

Herbert was born in Mérida, Yucatán and has lived in Canada, Mexico, and the US. His travels have taken him to Europe, Central and South America, and Africa. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics and Spanish from Wofford College and his IMBA from the University of South Carolina where he specialized in finance and production.