Speakers

Joel Wiegert is an international project manager and economic diplomacy leader with experience advancing economic, development, and commercial ties between the United States and African nations. He currently serves as Country Director at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), overseeing the agency’s $500 million compact in Mozambique, which combines grant financing for critical infrastructure improvements, including access roads to Nacala Port, and support for government efforts to develop and implement a critical minerals master plan. He also served as Country Director at MCC in Malawi, overseeing a $350 million road transport and land management project. In the private sector, Joel served as Senior Vice President at JWI and Principal Director at Nexant, advising companies and supporting energy initiatives across frontier and emerging markets. He also spent more than a decade at the U.S. State Department as an economic and commercial diplomat in South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Angola.