We aim to increase our sovereign clients’ access to sources of low-cost, stable capital flows and create opportunities for financing sustainable development.
We are laser-focused on achieving optimal results in debt management and debt restructuring negotiations.
We strive to reform the international financial architecture to facilitate financing the sustainable development goals and to meet the challenges of climate change.
Our team has supported over 20 sovereign governments worldwide. We also regularly work with international organisations, helping shape the landscape of sustainable sovereign debt and sovereign resilience.
Jill Dauchy is the founder and chief executive of Potomac Group LLC. Her career as a trusted advisor to governments and public entities spans more than twenty-five years and over twenty countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Throughout her career she has focused on issues of debt sustainability and restructuring, as well as strategies for stimulating economic growth, ensuring market access, and financing infrastructure.
Jill Dauchy is the founder and chief executive of Potomac Group LLC, a financial advisory firm based in Washington DC that specializes in advising governments on complex matters of the sovereign balance sheet. Ms. Dauchy’s career as a trusted advisor to governments and public entities spans more than twenty years and over a dozen countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Throughout her career she has focused on issues of debt sustainability and restructuring, as well as strategies for stimulating economic growth, ensuring market access, and financing infrastructure. She has a particular interest in working with governments and their stakeholders to find innovative financial solutions to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
Since founding Potomac Group, Ms. Dauchy has advised a range of sovereign and institutional clients, including the World Bank, United Nations, and the African Development Bank. Previously she advised the European Stability Mechanism. Select sovereign clients include Zimbabwe, Botswana, The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Iceland, Serbia (FRY), Indonesia, Ecuador and Pakistan; as well as the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ms. Dauchy began her career in finance at Swiss Bank Corporation on the Emerging Markets fixed income trading floor in New York City. Following the bank’s acquisition of S.G. Warburg & Co and subsequent merger with UBS, she moved to London and joined its well-known sovereign advisory team. She continued to collaborate with members of that team for over 15 years until returning to the US in 2015. Prior to forming Potomac Group, Ms. Dauchy was Managing Director at Millstein & Co.
Ms. Dauchy is the host of Sovereign Debt, a podcast that is regularly downloaded in over 120 countries. In addition, Ms. Dauchy serves as an external expert to the IMF and is a member of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), where she regularly participates in the Principles Consultative Group, the Committee for Sovereign Risk Management, and the Committee for Debt Transparency.
Ms. Dauchy earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business and an M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute, both of the University of Pennsylvania. She also received a B.A. in Soviet/Russian studies from Barnard College of Columbia University. She is fluent in French and Russian.
David Thirkill specializes in economic analysis and data visualization with a strong focus on sustainable sovereign debt instruments. At Potomac Group, he provides strategic financial advice to sovereign governments and other stakeholders as they navigate the evolving international financial architecture. In the past he has also advised a number of multilateral development banks, NGOs, and other international institutions, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, and UNCCD, on the feasibility of implementing climate- and nature-linked debt transactions in a variety of different contexts across the globe.
David Thirkill specializes in economic analysis and data visualization with a strong focus on sustainable sovereign debt instruments.
At Potomac Group, he provides strategic financial advice to sovereign governments and other stakeholders as they navigate the evolving international financial architecture and seek to understand how sustainable finance solutions can be applied for maximum benefit. In the past few years, Mr. Thirkill has also advised a number of multilateral development banks, NGOs, and other international institutions, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, and UNCCD, on the feasibility of implementing climate- and nature-linked debt transactions in a variety of different contexts across the globe.
Prior to joining Potomac Group, Mr. Thirkill was a research analyst at the International Monetary Fund, where he provided statistical and analytic support to the Director of Fiscal Affairs across a wide range of topics, including tax revenue mobilization, sovereign debt, and sustainable development. In addition to producing descriptive and visually engaging macroeconomic analyses for external outreach, Mr. Thirkill was a key member of the small team responsible for updating and managing the IMF’s Global Debt Database, which provides a comprehensive breakdown of public and private debt across 190 countries.
Through his early career, Mr. Thirkill also gained experience reviewing antidumping duties at the United States International Trade Commission’s Office of Investigations. Before this, he was working to promote investment and foster mutually beneficial business-to-business relations at the Embassy of Jordan’s Economic and Commerce Bureau in Washington, DC.
Mr. Thirkill earned an M.A. in International Economic Relations from American University’s School of International Service.
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Tala Rafii brings over three years of experience in finance and strategy consulting to her role as an Associate at Potomac Group. Her expertise includes economic analysis and data visualization.
Tala Rafii brings over three years of experience in finance and strategy consulting to her role as an Associate at Potomac Group. Her expertise includes economic analysis and data visualization, enabling her to offer valuable insights to clients.
At Potomac Group, Ms. Rafii is engaged in in-depth quantitative and qualitative research projects, financial and economic modeling, and more. She recently contributed to a technical paper for an international institution, exploring the potential of sustainability-linked bonds in select countries.
Prior to joining our team, Ms. Rafii worked at Advancy, a boutique consultancy in Paris, where she participated in corporate strategy and due diligence projects, including a project to optimize and monetize a major Sovereign-owned entity. Her comprehensive approach to both financial and business matters allows her to provide well-rounded guidance to clients .Additionally, she gained experience at Rothschild & Co, where she advised Western Asian and Eastern European Sovereigns on debt management strategies, debt transactions, and Public-Private Partnership schemes.
Ms. Rafii holds a Master’s degree in Finance from Sciences Po Paris.
30-year career at the IMF; Former Division Chief/Assistant Director African Department; Former Economist-Division Chief Fiscal Affairs Department Western Hemisphere Department at the IMF.
Open full bio →Benedict Clements is an accomplished economist with a distinguished 30-year career at the International Monetary Fund, with a particular focus on fiscal matters. Since retiring from the Fund in 2020, he has been a visiting professor of economics at the Universidad de las Américas in Ecuador and an economics consultant.
Prior to his retirement from the Fund, Mr. Clements was for four years the Division Chief/Assistant Director of the African East One Division, African Department where he was responsible for managing a division of 17 staff and mission team for Kenya, while continuing to undertake analytical work on a range of issues, primarily focusing on fiscal policy.
Earlier, from 2015 to 2016, he was Division Chief of the Fiscal Policy and Surveillance Division of the Fiscal Affairs Department. Primary outputs and activities of the division include the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor report, which covers current fiscal developments across the globe and provides new analytical work on key fiscal policy challenges; dissemination of the Monitor to external audiences; preparation of a paper for the IMF’s Executive Board on best practices in analyzing and managing fiscal risks; and other analytical work on macro-fiscal issues. At this time Mr. Clements also led the team conducting the Fiscal Transparency Evaluation for Brazil.
From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Clements was the Division Chief of the Expenditure Policy Division of the Fiscal Affairs Department. In this post he was responsible for the preparation of papers for the IMF’s Executive Board on cross-country experience and policy lessons on expenditure policy issues (including pensions, public health care, energy subsidies, income inequality, and public investment); supervision of other analytical work, including for books and papers for academic journals; and leading technical assistance missions to individual countries (Colombia, Greece, Jordan, Kosovo, Romania) on expenditure policy issues.
Prior to 2010, Mr. Clements was also the Division Chief, Western Hemisphere Department (2007-2009), Chief, Regional Studies Unit, Western Hemisphere Department (2005-2007), Deputy Division Chief, Expenditure Policy Division, Fiscal Affairs Department (2001-2004), and Economist-Senior Economist (1991-2000).
Mr. Clements earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and is the author of many peer-reviewed papers and IMF publications, as well as a contributing author to a number of books.
30-year career at the IMF; Former Assistant Director, Monetary & Capital Markets at the IMF; Former Senior Adviser to the Saudi G20 Presidency; consultant to the World Bank.
Open full bio →Economist and financial sector expert, with an extensive record of research, publications, and speeches on economics, finance, and financial regulation. Currently a Visiting Senior Fellow at the School of Public Policy at the LSE, where his research interests include global governance and climate and financial regulation; a Special Adviser on financial stability and macroprudential policy to the Bank of England; and an independent consultant to a number of public and private organizations. He served as Senior Adviser to the Saudi G20 Presidency during 2020 and a senior consultant to the World Bank Group on financial risk assessment, financial regulation, and capital market development in emerging market and developing countries; to the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office on emerging technology-related issues in finance; and to the USAID on post-conflict economies. He has had a 30-year career at the International Monetary Fund, which he left in 2017 as Assistant Director of the Monetary & Capital Markets Department.
He is an international negotiator and strong communicator, with decades of experience interacting with senior policymakers on economic strategy and policy, bridging gaps between technocrats and politicians, academics and policymakers, economists and financial regulators. He is a veteran manager in large, multinational organizations and has experience working in major global institutions, such as the G20, IMF, World Bank, and FSB, as well as the European Union. He has hands-on expertise in policy development, institution-building, and working with governments and donors in emerging market and developing countries. For more information, visit www.demekas.com.
30-year career at the IMF; Visiting scholar at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University and Vienna University for Economics and Business.
Open full bio →Daniel Hardy is currently a Senior Research Associate at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Research, and consults on economic and financial issues and policies for the IMF, EIB, the Vienna Initiative, and others. Most of his career was spent as a senior economist and manager at the International Monetary Fund. He has also been an Academic Visitor at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, and the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and worked at the Austrian Financial Market Authority and the German Bundesbank.
Mr. Hardy was the Division Chief of the Debt and Capital Market Instruments Division at the IMF, where he contributed to macroeconomic and financial sector surveillance; Fund-supported programs; defining Fund policies; and technical assistance to help build financial sector frameworks and institutions in a wide range of industrialized, emerging market, and developing countries. Mr. Hardy led work on European financial integration and the banking union; debt management; and sovereign debt restructurings. Over his career he has undertaken research on such topics as cross-border policy coordination, credit market behavior, and stress testing, and is currently focusing on the development of sovereign sustainability debt, inflation dynamics in emerging countries, and measures of national welfare.
Mr. Hardy earned his B.A. and M.A. at Oxford University and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University.
Debt sustainability analyses for low-income countries; Africa. 20+ years at the IMF; Former Senior Economist. Former French Treasury. Native speaker of French.
Open full bio →Julien is a global expert with extensive knowledge of IMF operations and policies honed over 20+ years contributing to the lending, surveillance, and capacity development activities of the Fund. He has expertise in applying international macroeconomic, social, and structural policies in bilateral (low-income, emerging, advanced economies), regional (ADB, AfDB, EC), and multilateral contexts (G20, G7). He has developed wide and technical experience on debt issues while working at the IMF and the European Commission. He has participated in debt policy design, provided support to country teams, and participated in technical-capacity building activities. He was part of the core team that developed the revamped debt limit policy. In addition, he has experience with HIPC while carrying-out DSAs for 15 LICs and actively involved in Paris club debt restructuring meetings.
Legal frameworks; Africa. Former Director and CEO of the African Legal Support Facility of the AfDB; former Deputy Secretary General for COMESA.
Open full bio →Stephen Karangizi is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the African Legal Support Facility. He has been with the ALSF since October 2011. As Director, he is responsible for the oversight of the Facilities projects in the areas of negotiations of agreements in infrastructure developments (extractives sector, the energy sector); investment agreements and related commercial and business transactions; as well as debt management and litigation. He also acts as the legal representation of the institution.
Prior to joining the ALSF, he was Deputy Secretary General (Programmes) of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) from 2008 to 2011. His major achievements during that period included participating in the negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union (between 2006 and 2010); participating in the negotiations between COMESA, EAC and SADC to establish a Tripartite Arrangement; and coordinating the different programmes of COMESA including trade and investment and infrastructure.
He was also the Legal Advisor for COMESA from 1997 to 2008. During the time he was Legal Advisor of COMESA his major achievements included: leading the Legal Team that worked with the World Bank to establish the African Trade Insurance Agency (the only African Institution that provides political risk insurance cover); coordinating major programme that supported African States to introduce and modernise Public Procurement Laws; establishing a Regional Court and representing COMESA before the regional court; Providing legal advice on major regional projects (infrastructure, trade and investment) both transactions and policy; and leading the regional legal team that negotiated the post-Cotonou Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.
Over a 33 year career as a lawyer, he also served as a Legal Advisor for the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda (West Indies), Uganda and Zimbabwe after starting off in private legal practice. Mr. Karangizi was also Chairman of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in July 2006. He also served as Chairman of the UNCITRAL working group on the Model Law on Public Procurement from 2004 to 2008 that eventually led to the revision of the 1994 Model Law.
Mr. Karangizi holds Bachelor of Law Degree with Honours (LL.B. with Honours) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda and Masters in Laws (LL.M) Degree from the University of Zimbabwe. In addition, he also holds a Bachelor of Law degree (Post Graduate Degree for Legal Practice from the University of Zimbabwe) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Law Development Centre of Uganda) where he was awarded the Attorney General’s prize for the best bar student. He is enrolled as a Legal Practitioner of the High Court of Zimbabwe and an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda.
35+ year career as news producer and media strategist; Former Senior Comms Advisor, IMF; Foreign Press Advisor, French Ministry of Finance; Paris bureau chief, ABC News.
Open full bio →Bruno Silvestre has been a trusted name in the television news business for 28 years and has joined Potomac Group to provide media counsel and strategic advice to national institutions and international organizations.
Prior to joining Potomac Group, Mr. Silvestre was a Senior Communications Officer at the International Monetary Fund and personally advised Managing Director Christine Lagarde on her media outreach, particularly when dealing with international challenges and crisis situations. He has worked with Ms. Lagarde since the height of the financial crisis in 2008, when he became a member of her private staff at the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. For more than three years, he was the key interlocutor between the minister and the Paris-based foreign press. He also accompanied her as press advisor on foreign trips, international seminars, G7 or G20 conferences, and bilateral visits, which gave him a unique perspective on the inner workings of domestic and international institutions. He was also a key member of the team that ran her election campaign.
Previously, Mr. Silvestre spent more than two decades running the Paris bureau of ABC News, where he became Pierre Salinger’s right-hand man. As a producer and senior producer, he spent countless weeks reporting on the fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, on wars and upheavals in the Middle East, on sieges and agitation in the Balkans, and on coups, catastrophes, and health emergencies in Africa. Working for one of the busiest networks at the time, Bruno covered world news with Pierre and other networks’ correspondents, working alongside world-class journalists and anchors like Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, and Dan Rather, and was awarded several distinctions: Peabody Award, ATAS Emmy Award, Overseas Press Club, among others.
Mr. Silvestre ended his career at ABC News as Paris Bureau chief before eventually joining CBS, and then later NBC. His network news experience, together with reporting in more than 70 countries worldwide gave him an unparalleled knowledge of the world political landscape, as well as a substantial list of media contacts.
He is now capitalizing on these years of experience and distinctive qualifications by working with domestic or international authorities as well as private companies to help them devise a targeted communications strategy and/or a proper media response in times of crisis.
Mr. Silvestre earned a MS from Columbia University’s School of Journalism. He lives between Paris, Washington, and southern Maryland.
Financial and macro economist. Former advisor to the chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank.
Open full bio →Clemens Graf von Luckner is a financial and macro economist. Prior, he served as economist and advisor to the chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. In this role he assisted the chief economist in high level debt servicing strategy meetings with client countries and IMF representatives. He also provided advice on the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, as well as the G20 Common Framework, developed in response to the Covid pandemic and was part of a small team developing recommendations to improve the joint World Bank and IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis.
Prior to the World Bank he has held positions at Eurasia Group and worked as an external consultant for JP Morgan’s sovereign advisory, inter alia.
Graf von Luckner holds a B.A. degree from Sciences Po and two master’s degrees in economics, public policy and finance from Sciences Po and Columbia University. He is currently a PhD candidate at Sciences Po.
40+ year career as a diplomat including as US Ambassador to Zambia, Egypt, the Philippines and India. Experience working with the Government of Sudan. Arabic speaker.
Open full bio →Ambassador Wisner is a Senior Advisor to Potomac Group and assists the firm in its understanding of global trends and geopolitical landscapes. He is also an International Affairs Advisor at Squire Patton Boggs and serves on a number of boards, including the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
Ambassador Wisner’s diplomatic career spans over 40 years, including serving as US Ambassador to Zambia, Egypt, the Philippines and India.
Ambassador Wisner began his distinguished foreign service career at the State Department stationed in Algiers immediately after Algeria won independence from France. He was then transferred to Vietnam at the apex of the Vietnam War.
Continuing his career in both North Africa and Asia, Ambassador Wisner worked as a senior diplomat in Tunisia and Bangladesh before returning to Washington as Director of Plans and Management in the Bureau of Public Affairs. Afterwards, he joined the President’s Interagency Task Force on Indochina, serving as its Deputy Director.
Ambassador Wisner also served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and was Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs after serving as Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs in the 1980s. He worked closely with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to launch negotiations with Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Appointed by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Ambassador Wisner served as US special representative in Kosovo Status Talks in 2005. He was also vice chair of external affairs at AIG until 2009.
Fellow at the Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business at the Harvard Law School. Juris Doctor and Master in Public Administration in International Development.
Open full bio →Juan P. Farah Yacoub is currently a fellow at the Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business at the Harvard Law School. He is also a joint Juris Doctor and Master in Public Administration in International Development (JD & MPA/ID) at the Harvard Law and Kennedy Schools. While on leave from his graduate studies he served as economist and advisor at the World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President’s office during 2020-22. Prior to the World Bank he worked at the International Monetary Fund, the International Finance Corporation, the Potomac Group, Keystone Strategy, and Goldman Sachs & Co. His areas of focus are macroeconomics, international finance, and financial and sovereign debt crises; covering these topics from both law and economics lenses.
