Dr. Lars Thunell

Dr. Lars Thunell

Dr. Lars Thunell currently chairs the Board of the African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd). He took on the role in 2013 when ARC Ltd was established.

Alongside ARC Ltd, Dr. Thunell is member of a High Level Panel at the African Development Bank as well as being senior advisor to the Blackstone Group and chairman of Global Water Development Partners. He was a board member and chair of the risk committee at Standard Chartered Bank and a board member of Kosmos Energy.

Between 2006 and 2012, Dr. Thunell was CEO and Executive Vice President of the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Under his leadership, the IFC expanded its annual investment volume from $6bn to more than $20bn and refocused its efforts on the poorest countries, especially in Africa.

Prior to joining IFC, Dr. Thunell had an extensive career in the private sector including as CEO of SEB, Sweden’s leading bank, Trygg-Hansa, a Swedish insurer, and Securum where he played a key role in the Swedish government’s strategy to resolve a banking crisis in the 1990s.

Dr. Thunell received a PhD in Political Science from Stockholm University.