Mouhamadou Sy (PhD 2013) : An international high-speed career.


Mouhamadou Sy, Economist International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Mouhamadou Sy began his graduate studies with a bachelor’s degree in econometrics before pursuing a master’s degree in quantitative methods at the Université Paris-Est Créteil. Three reasons prompted him to join the École d’économie de Paris: the master’s degree APE – Economic analysis and policy was deemed to be a demanding intellectual training; it is a general program; and finally he sees the opportunity to deepen his knowledge in macroeconomics, a subject he is passionate about. In addition, he is a great admirer of Pr. Daniel Cohen who officiates at PSE. Under his leadership, he defended his thesis entitled “Essays on Monetary Policy and Capital Flows in a Globalized World” in 2013.

In 2010, Mouhamadou Sy held a PhD internship at the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington. For 3 months, he worked on the duality of the business bond market in Malaysia. This experience was decisive for this young PhD student. He realized then he wanted to work in an institution and not an university. The following year, he joined BRUEGEL (Brussels European and Global Economic Laboratory) to help Jean-Pisani Ferry in writing a report on the IMF’s assessment of €uro zone surveillance before the financial crisis. A year later, Mouhamadou obtained his first job as an economist in the Department of Economy-Finances of France Strategy, a think tank attached to the French Prime Minister. For two and a half years, he worked mainly on two topical topics: the balance of payments crisis in the countries of the South Euro area and the competitiveness challenges of the French economy.

In April 2014, he was recruited to the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, where he worked for three years. First in the department of macroeconomic policy, forecasting and research before joining the cabinet of President A. Adesina. At the AfDB, this expert on monetary and financial issues realized the importance of fiscal issues in developing countries. This prompts him to return to the IMF in Washington in July 2017, but in the Department of Public Finances to deal with tax issues. He is very excited about this new job which is for him the best place to learn and deal with public finance issues.

Source: La lettre PSE, March 2018