Nicolas Pirotte

Background

About Nicolas Pirotte

I think I have several assets that I could usefully highlight. On the one hand, my large field experience across different continents enabled me to acquire broad experience with private sector development and related financial products. On the other hand, my experience as Deputy Chief of Cabinet of the Vice-Prime Minister of the Walloon Government have also strengthened my practical experience with policy development and implementation, which I believe adds important value to the work of any consultant working in similar areas. Through my academic training in development economics and the various consultancies I carried out I became aware of the current and future challenges that threaten the sustainability of the Northern and Southern economic systems. It is obvious for instance that companies need to be much more competitive to be able to face global competition. Also, we cannot ignore the potential risk for companies linked to the depletion of fossil energies and other natural resources, and to the consequences of climate change. Globally and in the long term, we need to think of and develop an economic model that comprehensively takes into account social, economic, environmental and governance challenges. In the short term, it is essential to implement policies to fill the gap between the rich and the poor globally and also locally in each country. I defend a “making markets work for the poor” approach which involves the creation of innovative solutions such as microfinance for instance. However, my own expertise in this field has led me to consider these tools with caution and use them only when they are part of a larger strategy that includes other vectors such as education, health, infrastructure, governance, etc.