Staff Directory

Alexander Sotiriou

Financial Sector Specialist

Alexander Sotiriou leads CGAPs work on Financial Innovations for Development, which aims to understand how innovations in financial services can be used to address some of the most pressing challenges in development, including access to energy, water, and education.

He joined CGAP from MicroVest, where he was the investment manager for Latin America and managed a portfolio of investments in the region’s leading microfinance and small and medium enterprise finance institutions. Earlier, Mr. Sotiriou was an associate in Citi’s Johannesburg and Mexico City offices, where he developed corporate and project finance solutions for corporations and governments across Africa and in Mexico. He has also worked as an analyst for a private equity fund in Mexico and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso and Guatemala.

Mr. Sotiriou has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Economics from the University of Arizona.

By Alexander Sotiriou

Research

A Tale of Two Sisters: Microfinance Institutions and PAYGo Solar

Decisions on whether to compete or collaborate with new types of financial services providers and how to do so are some of the biggest challenges that MFIs face. Two global microfinance groups, Baobab and FINCA, have concluded that PAYGo financing can help them reach additional clients.
Research

Testing the Waters: Digital Payments for Water and Sanitation

A growing number of water providers are experimenting with digital payments to reduce operational expenses and streamline service delivery. This paper extracts lessons learned from 25 water providers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Research

Digital Finance for the Real Economy: Introduction

This slide deck describes how digital financial services can contribute to international development across several sectors like energy, water, education and health.
Research

Taming the Strange Beasts: Servicing and the Future of PAYGo

Despite its tremendous promise, the PAYGo industry is still young and challenging. Entrepreneurs and investors should expect and prepare for some failures. To plan for the future and prepare for unpleasant contingencies, there needs to be more focus on loan servicing in the PAYGo sector.
Research

Digital Finance for the Real Economy: Water

Digital financial services have enormous potential to achieve universal access to safe water and sanitation. This presentation is part of a series that synthesizes what we have learned and our insights into the power and challenges of digital finance.