Linda Zanfini

Senior Advisor to the Chief Economist

Researcher

Expertise : Development economics, employment, education, research in the Global South

Country and region : Africa

Theme : Education and Training, Employment, Decent Work, Fighting Inequalities, Gender Equality, Sports and Development

Linda Zanfini, a development economist, has been Senior Advisor to AFD’s Chief Economist since 2025.

As part of her role, Linda Zanfini contributes to reflection on development financing. She also coordinates research on the research institutions and systems of AFD’s countries of operation, particularly in Africa, as well as on sports and development, including the scientific coordination of collective research volumes published by Éditions AFD

From 2019 to 2025, Linda led a research program on the themes of education, training, vocational integration and employment, as well as higher education and research, in AFD’s countries of operation. One of the aims of this program is to feed into the public policy dialogues AFD conducts on these subjects with its partner countries. On behalf of AFD, she also led the project to support the Clermont International Development Hub.

Linda joined AFD’s Strategy Department in 2016, where she was responsible for Corporate Social Responsibility. Before joining AFD, she worked as an evaluator of cooperation policies, then joined the Directorate for Globalization at France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE). She also lectured, notably at the University of Paris-Sud and Paris Nanterre University.

She holds a PhD in Development Economics from the Paris Nanterre University, and completed a thesis on trade liberalisation and labor structure in the south west indian ocean islands.

Linda Zanfini’s English-language publications with Éditions Agence française de développement are available at the bottom of this page. Her French-language publications can be found on her French profile.

Other works

With the “Arabo-Islamic Education in the Sahel” (EDUAI) project team: summary report of the EDUAI project findings, overview of EDUAI in Niger, in Senegal, in Chad, in Mauritania, in Burkina Faso, in Mali (in French)
“Antananarivo : de la cité coloniale aux pôles d’attractivité”, in A. Androuais (ed.), Pôles de compétitivité, métropolisation, villes et environnement, L’Harmattan (2016) (in French).
“L’attractivité des zones franches à Madagascar et Maurice ou le développement d’une relation complexe”, Cahiers de l’Association Tiers-Monde no. 25, pp. 87-98 (2010) (in French).
“La mobilité intersectorielle du travail dans l’espace urbain et rurbain à Madagascar : le(s) rôle(s) des activités informelles”, Villes et développement durable, Les Cahiers de Préludes (2007) (in French).