Paula Maria Leynes Felipe
Regional Manager, Upstream and Advisory Services, FIG Eastern and Southern Africa, International Finance Corporation
Paula is a senior international development professional with extensive experience in emerging markets, particularly in Asia and Africa. Since February 2023, Paula serves as the Upstream and Advisory Manager for the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) Industry Department for Eastern and Southern Africa leading IFC’s efforts to enable investment opportunities, enhance investment outcomes, and improve investment conditions in these subregions. She leads a diverse team of technical and project management experts to implement investment-linked capacity building services with regulators and private sector clients on priority thematic areas aligned with IFC Africa’s strategy: agrifinance/food security, sustainable finance, MSME inclusion, housing finance, digital financial services, risk management, and financial infrastructure, among others. Prior to taking this role, Paula led the integration of Advisory Services with Investment and Upstream in FIG Asia as Principal Operations Officer, and prior to
that was the Risk Management Practice Lead for FIG Asia. Before joining IFC, Paula had senior executive roles in Standard Chartered and HSBC Philippines which included serving as a member of the Board of Directors in the Philippine HSBC subsidiary, and leading departments in: Commercial Banking, SME and Business Banking, Trade Finance, Consumer Credit, Collections and Recoveries, and Corporate Credit Control. Paula is a double degree holder from the University of the Philippines (Cum Laude) and placed 20th nationally in the Philippines’ accountancy licensure examinations. She is a classically trained pianist, racquet sports enthusiast, and appreciates art, architecture and literature.
