Jyrki Koskelo， a Finnish national， is IFC’s new Vice President for Global Industries， and a member of the Management Team. He will oversee investment operations activities， including strategic initiatives to accelerate and expand innovation， new product development， and global investment initiatives.
Prior to this assignment， Mr. Koskelo was Vice President， Europe， Central Asia， Latin America and the Caribbean， and Global Financial Markets， where he led IFC's activities in these regions and sector. Previously， he was Vice President， Africa， Global Financial Markets， and Funds， where he led IFC's business in Africa and provided leadership to the departments serving Global Financial Markets as well as Private Equity and Investment Fund. From April 2004， he was IFC’s Director for Global Financial Markets， where he led the significant expansion of IFC’s business in housing finance， microfinance， insurance， and banking. He also led the launch and successful implementation of the IFC Global Trade Finance Program， sustainability finance， and SME financing， particularly in frontier markets， after serving as Director of Special Operations， where he had responsibility for managing IFC’s restructuring and recovery operations during the Asian， Argentine， and Russian crises.
Mr. Koskelo has had extensive experience globally across sectors including manufacturing， infrastructure， and extractive industries. He has also held responsibilities in Central and Southern Europe， where he served as IFC’s Country Anchor for Estonia， Latvia， Lithuania， and Poland.
Prior to joining IFC， Mr. Koskelo spent more than 10 years in senior management positions in the private sector， including as Managing Director of Georeda Ltd.， a large engineering company in Saudi Arabia with six branch offices， and as Vice President of Finance for Geo-Hydro， Inc. in Rockville， Maryland， a high technology company he cofounded.
Mr. Koskelo holds a Master of Science degree in International Management/Finance from MIT’s Sloan
