Vera Songwe serves as The World Bank’s Country Director for Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau. She is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute with the Global Economy and Development and Africa Growth Initiative. Dr. Songwe holds a Ph.D. in Mathematical Economics from the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics from the Catholic University of Louvain (CORE-UCL) in Belgium. She was previously a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California and at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. In 1997, she joined the World Bank Group as an economist on the Middle East and North Africa. She is also a member of the Mo Ibrahim Governance Advisory Board.
Vera Songwe
My Definition Of Success | Success means achieving everything you strive for and then more. Yes my definition has changed, from considering success as my personal achievements to my actions that have a positive influence on others.
I Am Driven By | The pursuit of excellence, collective excellence. Today this means moving the dial in Africa. Working in Africa for Africa and being part of this moment of hope and change. The desire to want to be part of those who contribute in earnest to making Africa a better place. A place we can be and should be proud of.
A Key Talent | Hard work, persistence and the courage of my convictions. Nothing comes easy and you have to work hard at everything. Success is never ready made or given. With persistence you have the strength to keep fighting for what you believe in, what you think is correct. Hard work prepares you for the challenges, persistence allows you to keep going even when it all seems futile and the courage of your convictions gives you a reason to keep working hard and persisting. It is the result you are looking to achieve, but you must work hard for it. Nothing worth celebrating is ever handed to you freely.
The Principles I Live By | You must do onto others what you expect them to do to you. This is a very simple rule but it is one of the most difficult I find. One does not always succeed but the important thing is to keep trying to live up to it and at the end of every day to ask if you met the goal and how you can do better the next day. This process of self-assessment reminds us we are not perfect but also helps you to keep on trying to improve. It is a positive and constructive affirmation of who I am and want to be.
How I Use My Mind | I am always and constantly asking myself why I do what I do? What are the results I am looking to achieve. The discipline of having a clear result is sobering but also helps you to focus. For every action I take I have an expected result I hope to achieve. Having daily, monthly, yearly targets and working against these targets has been a very good disciplining tool for me. But it only becomes binding if you are honest with yourself.
Willis Raburu is one of Citizen TV’s fast rising journalists, based in Nairobi Kenya. A distinctive and versatile TV journalist, he brings a weekly segment on Citizen TV dubbed “TruthMeter” part of Citizen TV’s weekly new prime-time line-up of programming. My Definition Of Success | Success to me used to mean a good house, a […]
Jeremie Kubicek is the founder of the GiANT Companies (GiANT Worldwide, GiANT Impact, GiANT Partners, GiANT Capital and GiANT Experiences) and the author of Making Your Leadership Come Alive (a Wall Street Journal and INC. Magazine bestseller). They own and operate the global brands and events, Catalyst and the Leadercast. My Definition Of Success | My […]
José Manuel Ramos-Horta GCL AC is the United Nations’ special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). He was the President of East Timor from 2007 to 2012, the second since independence from Indonesia, and is a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize. He began his career in […]
Andrew is the co-founder and Managing Director of Yuppiechef, and heads up their strategy and technology. After developing websites and intranets for clients since 1999, he founded Yuppiechef in 2006 with Shane Dryden as a part-time venture while they continued to run a small web agency. Yuppiechef has since grown in to one of South […]
Mark is a South African writer and director. He graduated with Honours in Dramatic Art from the University of the Witwatersrand. After completing his studies, he taught himself screenwriting and film appreciation before traveling to Los Angeles, where he worked as a script reader for several production companies.Since then, Mark has worked as a freelance […]
“Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth who care for and protect our people.” – Nelson Mandela via SOS Children’s Villages South Africa Steve Miller has an ability to communicate […]
Mavericks is a surfing location in Northern California where storm-waves can top out at over 60 feet with many actually being recorded on the Richter Scale!! It is also the home of the Mavericks Big Wave International Surf Contest for a select few of the world’s best big wave surfers. Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker has won […]
Kirsty Chadwick is an educator, public speaker and leader, who has spent almost two decades involved in the field of education. Founder of The Training Room Online, which designs and develops innovative tailor-made e-learning material for the corporate, industrial and private sectors, Kirsty has trained, developed and inspired people across three continents. Kirsty Chadwick Definition […]
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
