Full Name
H.E. Dr. Leila Benali
Job Title
Minister of Energy Transition & Sustainable Development & President of the Sixth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6)
Company
Morocco Government
Speaker Bio
Dr Leila Benali is an international energy expert appointed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI on October 7, 2021, as Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development. In 2019, Dr Benali was a member of the Special Commission on the Development Model, mandated to diagnose and review Morocco’s development trajectory.
Dr Benali is a graduate of Ecole Mohammadia d’Ingenieurs Rabat and Ecole Centrale Paris. She also holds a master’s degree in political science and a PhD in Economics summa cum laude from Sciences Po Paris.
Dr Benali has worked with major boards and international companies, including Saudi Aramco, where she spent eight years and was in charge of the company’s energy policy and gas strategy; the Arab Petroleum Investment Company, a Multilateral Development Bank, where she held the position of Chief Economist and Head of Strategy and Sustainability; and the International Energy Forum, the largest international organization of energy ministers.
She has also served as Director for the Middle East and Africa at IHS, Professor at Sciences Po, Industrial Engineer at Schlumberger and President of the Arab Energy Club.
Dr Benali co-authored the book Energy Poverty: Global Challenges and Local Solutions, published in 2014, which was hailed by former US President Bill Clinton as a "must read for anyone genuinely interested in finding meaningful solutions to energy poverty."
Her book Electricity – Sector Reforms on the MENA Region, published in 2019, remains a reference for reform policies in emerging countries.
Dr Benali is a graduate of Ecole Mohammadia d’Ingenieurs Rabat and Ecole Centrale Paris. She also holds a master’s degree in political science and a PhD in Economics summa cum laude from Sciences Po Paris.
Dr Benali has worked with major boards and international companies, including Saudi Aramco, where she spent eight years and was in charge of the company’s energy policy and gas strategy; the Arab Petroleum Investment Company, a Multilateral Development Bank, where she held the position of Chief Economist and Head of Strategy and Sustainability; and the International Energy Forum, the largest international organization of energy ministers.
She has also served as Director for the Middle East and Africa at IHS, Professor at Sciences Po, Industrial Engineer at Schlumberger and President of the Arab Energy Club.
Dr Benali co-authored the book Energy Poverty: Global Challenges and Local Solutions, published in 2014, which was hailed by former US President Bill Clinton as a "must read for anyone genuinely interested in finding meaningful solutions to energy poverty."
Her book Electricity – Sector Reforms on the MENA Region, published in 2019, remains a reference for reform policies in emerging countries.
Speaking At
