Mayada El-Zoghbi

Mayada El-Zoghbi is the managing director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion. Until September 2019, Ms. El-Zoghbi was a senior financial sector specialist and led CGAP’s strategy, research and development unit. Her work focused on leading CGAP’s research on women’s financial inclusion, financial services in crisis environments and other emerging topics.

Before joining CGAP, she founded and managed a development consulting firm working with funding agencies such as the IFC and USAID. She led numerous technical assistance, evaluation, and research assignments and also served as a research director for a USAID knowledge management initiative on microfinance and conflict, where she authored numerous papers and facilitated many industry learning events. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from SIPA at Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Minnesota. She is bilingual in Arabic and English.

By Mayada El-Zoghbi

Blog

False Neutrality: Ensuring Policies and Regulations Benefit Women

It's possible that financial regulations can be crafted in ways to increase and improve the quality of financial inclusion for women.
Blog

Mind the Gap: Women and Access to Finance

The Global Findex reveals a glaring gap between women and men when it comes to financial access. With all of the global progress, why would a gender gap persist?
Blog

Sharia-Compliant Microfinance: 5 Takeaways from CGAP's Research

We take a look at five takeaways from CGAP's most recent research on the subject of sharia-compliant products.
Research

Costs and Sustainability of Sharia-Compliant Microfinance

This Focus Note explores the operational costs associated with musharaka and salam products by delving into two case studies: Bank Al Baraka in Algeria and Wasil Foundation in Pakistan.
Blog

The Arab World in Crisis: How Should Donors & Investors Respond?

Donors and investors focusing on financial inclusion in the Arab World are determining how to adapt their approaches given the level of crisis in the region. It's a complicated issue, but many organizations have provided resources to aid decisionmaking.