Joel Kolker

Mr. Kolker leads the World Bank’s Water Practice’s global effort to secure additional financing to meet the enormous financing gap in the sector. He works with numerous clients across the globe to facilitate technical and financial efficiencies and improved institutional and regulatory improvements to facilitate credit worthiness. He brings almost 30 years of experience in dealing with a host of issues related to infrastructure finance across multiple sectors. Mr. Kolker has lived, worked and led projects, primarily in Africa and Asia, in over 30 countries. He provides advice on project finance options, PPP opportunities, credit enhancements, and institutional, regulatory and governance arrangements. Prior to joining the Water Practice, Mr. Kolker served as the Africa representative for the World Bank’s Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) and the World Bank Institute. Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Kolker worked for a bilateral donor supporting infrastructure development, decentralization and housing finance projects in Africa and Asia. He holds a BA from George Washington University and Master’s degrees in Urban Planning and Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania in the US.