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.
Jamie Anderson is an American professional snowboarder. She won the gold medal in the inaugural Women’s Slopestyle Event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. She has won gold medals in slopestyle at the Winter X Games in consecutive years in 2007/8 and 2012/3. My Definition Of Success | It has changed over the years […]
Daniel Humm is a Swiss chef and restaurant owner. He is chef/co-owner of Eleven Madison Park in New York City and a recipient of three Michelin stars. My Definition Of Success | Success is waking up every day and getting to do what I love most. Cooking is both my passion and my profession and, to […]
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 […]
Dave Foord serves as the Chief Investment Officer and Director of Foord Asset Management (Pty) Limited. Dave Foord founded Foord Asset Management in October 1981 when he was 28-years old together with Liston Meintjies. This month marks the companies 33rd birthday. My Definition Of Success | Success to me means having the independence to be […]
Athol Williams came from humble beginnings in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, and has then lived in Johannesburg, Boston and London. He currently splits his time between Oxford and Cape Town. Athol Williams has published 3 collections of poems and 2 children’s books. He also has a deep passion for reading and education. He is pioneering […]
Fola Dokunmu is based in South Africa and has over 24 years experience in the soccer industry first as a player, then in coaching, talent identification, sports management and branding for athletes, also in sports organizations and corporate looking to invest in sports and sponsorships. My Definition Of Success | Success to me, is when at […]
Manuel Lima is a designer, author, lecturer, and researcher based in New York City. Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Founder of VisualComplexity.com, Design Lead at Codecademy. Nominated by Creativity magazine as “one of the 50 most creative and influential minds of 2009″. WIRED describes Lima as “the man who turns data into art” […]
Jason is one of the leading thinkers, consultants, strategists and educators in the emerging world of social media marketing. Jason Falls is a leading digital strategist, author, speaker and thinker in the digital and social media marketing industry. He is an innovator in the conversation research segment of social analytics, having published the first-ever Conversation […]
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
