Romina Bandura

Senior Fellow, Project on Prosperity and Development, Project on U.S. Leadership in Development
Romina Bandura

Romina Bandura is a senior fellow with the Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Ms. Bandura is an economist with more than 20 years of experience in international development research, policy analysis, and project management. Her current research focuses on foreign aid and development finance, Ukraine recovery and reconstruction, digital transformation, financial inclusion, and the future of work in developing countries. She has also conducted extensive research on the United States’ economic engagement in the developing world and enhancing the reach and impact of the multilateral development bank system. Her work is often cited in prominent media outlets. Before joining CSIS in September 2017, she was a senior consultant at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). She worked closely with clients to design research and manage projects that included index building, quantifying qualitative variables, policy analysis, and strategies for investment and growth. EIU flagship projects include benchmarking indices like the Global Microscope on Financial Inclusion and the Latin America and Caribbean Infrascope project. She also held positions as an economist at the International Labour Organization's Washington office, a business manager at DAI’s Economic Growth Sector (managing a $90 million private sector development portfolio of projects in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe) and a policy analyst for the UN Development Programme. Early in her career, she worked in the banking sector in Argentina. Ms. Bandura holds an MPA in international development from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a BA in economics from the Universidad Católica Argentina, Buenos Aires.

Programs & Projects

Areas of Expertise

Media Queries

In the News

All Romina Bandura Content

Filter by

1 - 10 of 139 results

Unlocking Financial Inclusion

The next wave of borderless and truly digital innovations will likely be driven by emerging technologies like AI and distributed ledger technology (DLT). Both technologies hold promise to transform the financial services industry.

Report by Romina Bandura, Madeleine McLean, and Esteban Cherquis — April 23, 2025

Ukraine’s Future Rests on Its People

Due to the war and negative demographic trends, Ukraine is facing a difficult workforce situation that affects business operations and threatens the country’s future reconstruction and growth prospects.

Report by Romina Bandura — February 14, 2025

Is the Global Workforce Ready for the Energy Transition?

This report analyzes the workforce implications of the transition to a low-carbon economy and presents broad actions that governments, labor, businesses, and civil society actors can take to ensure a just transition for workers.

Report by Romina Bandura and Clara Bonin — November 4, 2024

Building the Future: Freedom, Prosperity, and Foreign Policy with Dan Runde

Shaping Tomorrow: USAID’s Digital Future with Chris Burns

In this episode of Building the Future, Romina Bandura is joined by Chris Burns, Chief Digital Development Officer for USAID and the Director of the Technology Division within the Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub, to discuss USAID’s work on digital development and dive deeper into USAID’s 10-year Digital Strategy that was first launched in 2020.

Podcast Episode by Romina Bandura — September 9, 2024

CSIS Building the Future

Removing Bottlenecks for the Private Sector

Despite the war, Ukraine has been undertaking a series of reforms to combat corruption, prepare the country for EU membership, and improve the overall business environment.

Report by Romina Bandura, Daria Figlus, and Ilya Timtchenko — September 3, 2024