Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Morocco, and UNEA-6 President
An international expert after a career in industry, banking and public policy, H.E Dr. Leila Benali was appointed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI on October 7th, 2021 as Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development. In 2019, she was also appointed as a member of the Special Commission on the Development Model (SCDM) mandated to re-think the kingdom’s development trajectory.
Dr. Benali is a graduate of Ecole Mohammadia d’Ingenieurs (EMI) Rabat and Ecole Centrale Paris. She also holds a MS in political science and a PhD in Economics Summa Cum Laude from Sciences Po Paris.
Dr. Benali has developed extensive experience in the formulation of energy master plans, reforms and policies, corporate strategies, and strategic investments and acquisitions for governments, energy companies, investment banks, industrialists, and institutional investors.
She has also worked with major boards and international companies, including Saudi Aramco where she spent 8 transformational years and was in charge of the company’s energy policy and gas strategy, the Arab Petroleum Investment Company (APICORP), a Multilateral Development Bank, where she held the position of Chief Economist and Head of Strategy and Sustainability, and the International Energy Forum (IEF), the largest international organization of energy ministers.
She was also Director for the Middle East and Africa at IHS, an international security and energy research and consultancy firm, a professor at Sciences Po, an industrial engineer at Schlumberger, and the chair of the Arab Energy Club.
Dr. Benali has contributed to the publication of numerous articles and books on energy, reforms and sustainable wealth. Her co-authored book entitled “Energy Poverty: Global challenges and local solutions”, published in 2014 and which was hailed by former US President Bill Clinton as “a must read for anyone who truly wanted to find 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.
In 2016, she received the “Future Leader” award from the Petroleum Economist, which recognizes individuals most likely to shape the future of an industry.
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