Astrid R.N. Haas is an urban economist supporting cities across Africa in strengthening their financial systems, with a focus on unleashing new opportunities for sub-national financing. Astrid has worked extensively with city governments across African and Asia in her diverse roles, including as an urban economist with the African Development Bank and Policy Director at the International Growth Centre. In 2016, she was nominated by the University of Cape Town as one of Africa’s Young Leaders and in 2020 she received Johns Hopkins University’s 'Outstanding Recent Graduate Award‘ for her work on urbanization.