Ashish Khanna

Mr Ashish Khanna has over twenty-six years of experience leading energy sector development across the private and public sectors in more than fifteen developing countries in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. He possesses extensive experience across the solar sector value chain, ranging from project conceptualisation to resource mobilisation, financing, bid process management, and project implementation.

As the former Head of the World Bank’s West and Central Africa Program, he led Mission 300, an initiative aimed at providing energy access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030. He also served as Program Leader for the Middle East and North Africa, where he led initiatives that enabled private sector investment of USD 20 billion in Egypt’s energy sector for the first time. In India, as Lead Energy Specialist at the World Bank, he worked with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on policy and regulatory reforms to enable private sector participation in solar energy. Born and raised in India, he has experienced first-hand the fundamental human need for energy access and the challenges faced by developing countries in achieving it. He believes that the success of the International Solar Alliance depends on a strengthened organisation with the right skills and accountability framework to earn the trust and confidence of countries and their agencies in designing and implementing solar pathways for energy access and energy transition.

Mr Khanna holds dual postgraduate degrees in Management and Public Administration. While pursuing his Master’s in Public Administration, he was recognised as a Littauer Fellow for Global Leadership Potential at the Harvard Kennedy School.