Salma El Tanany

Acting Director, Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO), The African Union Commission, Ethiopia

Salma El Tanany is the acting director of the Citizens and Diaspora Directorate at the African Union (AU) Commission. She has more than 17 years of experience in coordinating and managing externally funded development projects, having started her career at the Economic Research Forum and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Egypt. Prior to joining the AU, she was the deputy chief of party for USAID’s Strengthening Egypt’s Family Planning Program from 2018 to 2023. Ms. El Tanany has worked with various entities, including the government, research tanks, international development organizations, and donor organizations. Her career has focused on making policy research in the MENA region more policy relevant, timely, and feasibly actionable for its intended audience. Ms. El Tanany pursued her master’s degree in public policy and administration at the American University in Cairo . She also holds an MBA in international finance and investment and is currently a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University.