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Afram, Gabi G.

South Asia Finance and Private Sector Development, World Bank
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financial sector development; private sector development; economic policy; monetary policy
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South Asia Finance and Private Sector Development, World Bank
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Last updated: January 31, 2023
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Gabi G. Afram is currently a Senior Financial Economist at the World Bank’s South Asia Finance and Private Sector Development Unit and a Country Sector Coordinator for Finance and Private Sector Development in South Asia. He has 17 years of experience in banking, financial sector development, project management and economic policy research. Mr. Afram joined the World Bank in Washington, DC in 2005 as a young professional. He has led various projects and authored several studies and policy notes on South Asia and the Middle East. His project work has focused on financial inclusion, support to MSMEs, support for value-chains development, rural finance development, lending and TA to financial institutions, remittances and investment climate reforms. Prior to that, he worked as project manager and senior consultant on private sector development in Jordan, and has also worked at the Central Bank of Jordan and the Economic Section of the Embassy of The United States of America in Amman. He holds two Masters' degrees in finance and economics from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and the Kiel Institute of World Economics in Kiel, Germany. Mr. Afram is a native Arabic speaker, fluent in English, and has a good command of the French language.

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    Nepal's Investment Climate : Leveraging the Private Sector for Job Creation and Growth
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2012-03-19) Salvi Del Pero, Angelica; Afram, Gabi G.
    The objective of the Nepal Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is to evaluate the investment climate in Nepal in all its dimensions and promote policies to strengthen the private sector. The investment climate is made up of many dimensions that shape the opportunities for investments, employment creation, and growth of private firms. Such dimensions include factor markets, product markets, infrastructure services, and the macroeconomic, legal, regulatory, and institutional framework. The report's key finding is that while there are some niche sectors growing and expanding employment in Nepal (including tourism and certain educational and other services), there are many constraints to the investment climate in Nepal that are hindering the development and growth of the private sector. In particular, political instability, poor infrastructure, poor labor relations, poor access to finance, and declining exports plague Nepal's private sector. To overcome many of these issues and move forward, many reforms are needed. Given the extent of the challenge, effective public-private dialogue is required so that the government and the private sector can work in partnership to address these constraints. The pervasiveness and impact of political instability in Nepal makes the investment climate in the country comparable more to Afghanistan than other countries in the region or the comparator countries used in the analysis. While this comparison is unflattering, it is true. Political instability has stifled growth and limited Nepal's ability to exploit its hydropower and tourism potential. Interestingly, many firms do not perceive access to land and finance as major obstacles. This could be a reflection of lack of dynamism: Nepalese firms are simply not planning to invest, expand, and grow in their unstable and unpredictable environment. The peace dividend is not difficult to measure. As the surveys show, ending civil unrest alone would give back to enterprises 44 working days a year. The effects on economic activity, investment, growth, and job creation could be potentially huge.
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    The Remittance Market in India : Opportunities, Challenges, and Policy Options
    (World Bank, 2012-01-09) Afram, Gabi G.
    In chapter one, this report maps the patterns and characteristics of migration flows from India; in chapter two, it provides a detailed discussion of remittance flows to India in terms of their importance, sources, uses, trends, costs, and links to financial access. In chapter three, the report describes the remittance market (the players, the regulatory framework, as well as the existing operational schemes), setting the stage for chapter four, which presents a diagnostic of the remittance market based on the General Principles for International Remittance Services (GPs). The diagnostic covers the legal and regulatory framework, payment system infrastructure, market transparency and level of consumer protection, market structure, level of competition among remittance service providers, as well as market governance. It analyzes the existing situation in India and provides detailed recommendations (including lessons learned from international best practices) that are aimed at increasing competition in the remittance industry, providing broader access to payment system infrastructure, enhancing transparency, and ensuring a sound and predictable legal and regulatory framework. Several of the actions could set a basis for leveraging remittances to achieve other important public policy goals such as broadening financial access, expanding financial inclusion, and both strengthening and deepening the financial sector. The report was prepared through (a) background research (data research and mining, literature review, collection of relevant material and information, and background research), (b) a field visit in 2009 (a team of experts visited India and conducted interviews and focus groups with all relevant stakeholders and major institutions active in the remittance market), and (c) surveys of both the authorities and the market players.
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    The Qatar-Nepal Remittance Corridor : Enhancing the Impact and Integrity of Remittance Flows by Reducing Inefficiencies in the Migration Process
    (World Bank, 2011) Endo, Isaku; Afram, Gabi G.
    Remittance inflows play a crucial role in Nepal's economy. Officially recorded remittances already amounted to almost a quarter of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009. The 2008-09 global economic crises resulted in slower growth of remittance inflows in Nepal, leading directly to lower disposable income. This is a telling reminder of the importance of promoting a supportive environment for remittances. Nepali migration continues to increase as workers seek greater economic opportunities abroad. In this quest, Qatar is one of the important migration destinations for Nepali migrant workers. This report analyzes the migration and remittance transfer processes in the Qatar-Nepal Corridor in order to provide policy recommendations that would help improve the scale and impact of remittance transfers from Qatar to Nepal, and enhance the efficiency and integrity of migration and remittances in the corridor. The report identifies challenges in the migration process from Nepal to Qatar (related to high migration costs and their financing) and constraints in the remittance transfer process from Qatar to Nepal, which together limit the development and poverty reduction impact of remittance flows to Nepali households. As this report highlights, the Qatar-Nepal remittance corridor has several distinctive features. First, the majority of remittance flows from Qatar to Nepal are being transferred through officially regulated remittance channels. One of the reasons for this is actually the second feature of this corridor, namely, the officially managed migration process from Nepal to Qatar (as a result of which the majority of migrants are documented workers). The third feature is the contrast between the high competition and low prices of remittance services in this corridor on the one hand, and the contradictory rules and high costs incurred during the migration process on the other hand. Finally, as a by-product of the complex migration process which involves multiple players, financial transfers through informal mechanisms take place from Nepal to Qatar in order to pay the commissions of manpower agencies and middlemen.