Mwanda Phiri is an economist with extensive experience in applied economics research and policy analysis. She was recently the head of the Trade and Investment Unit at the Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR). During her tenure, she actively engaged with the Government of Zambia, the private sector, Parliament, civil society organizations, and other key stakeholders by providing technical support through meetings, workshops and memberships to various national committees on trade, industrialization, tax, the demographic dividend and sub-national carrying capacity. She has made notable contributions to key national policy documents namely: Zambia’s Tariff Phase-down Schedule for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the 7th National Development Plan, the National E-Commerce Strategy and Action Plan, and the National Demographic Dividend Operational Plan.

Beyond Zambia, she has also engaged with other regional and international organizations such as the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research; the International Growth Centre; the Centre for Competition Regulation and Economic Development, the Poverty Reduction, Equity and Growth Network; the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the African Development Bank; GIZ, UNIDO and others. Mwanda is a recipient of the UK Commonwealth Scholarship and holds a Master of Science in Economics and Public Policy obtained from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.