Volker Oel

Biography

Volker J. Oel is the Director-General for Reconstruction and Stability; MENA, Sahel, Horn of Africa, Eastern Europe in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) since May 2026. Prior to his current position he served as Executive Director for Germany at the Wold Bank Group in Washington, D.C. and held several management positions in BMZ since joining the Ministry in 1997. Mr. Oel served as Deputy-Director General/Commissioner for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), South Eastern and Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, as head of division responsible for steering and supervising the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Legal Affairs division as well as deputy head of division on Organizational Affairs. He also worked on Sub Sahara Africa/Southern Africa and European Union Affairs. Overseas assignments as Head of Cooperation took him to South Africa, Afghanistan and Namibia.