Carol Ayat
The AUB Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) is delighted to welcome Carol Ayat as IFI Senior Fellow. Carol is an energy finance professional and an investment banker. She has been deeply involved in policy discussions around the energy sector in Lebanon with various stakeholders including the local administration, the international financing community, as well as international developers and manufacturers. Carol currently heads the large corporates and specialized lending department at Bank Audi and is on the board of the Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative “LOGI”. Prior to joining the bank, she worked with Goldman Sachs with various roles in structured finance and leveraged finance in London, Dubai and New York. Carol holds an MA in Financial Economics and a BA in Economics from AUB. She is also a chartered financial analyst (CFA) charterholder.
“It is a great privilege for IFI to formally welcome Ms. Ayat to the team; Carol has already been generous in time and in ideas for the Institute, providing its Energy program valuable and innovative insights, and helping dynamizing our policy research on electricity in Lebanon. As a new fellow, she will continue to do so, as she will also add her corporate financial expertise to the Institute’s economic reflection. I am personally thrilled to be able to count on her for a wider and richer policy dialogue process IFI is keen on pursuing with various satekeholders.”
- Dr. Joseph Bahout, IFI Director
Over the last two years, Carol has contributed to the research of the Energy Policy and Security Program. In her most recent research report for IFI titled "
Leveraging the Banking Crisis to Crowdfund Electricity Reform in Lebanon", Carol proposes a comprehensive project across generation, transmission, and distribution, which leverages the banking sector crisis to find a bespoke and local funding solution. The financing is not contingent on foreign financial aid; therefore, the project can be launched imminently. However, the project requires technical, construction, operation, maintenance, and design assistance from international partners. This paper's aim is to design a project that forces reforms, and acts as a bridge for the full implementation of electricity law 462/2002, while enabling the deployment of renewables.
As Senior Fellow, Carol will have inputs in both the Energy Policy and Security, and the Political Economy and Development of the Middle East, programs at IFI.
“It is an honor to officially join the IFI family and its exceptional team of experts and scholars with whom I have closely collaborated on multiple research work and studies in the past couple of years. As a trusted, independent, neutral and scientific research and public policy hub, IFI is uniquely positioned to put forth innovative solutions that shape public policy, while bridging gaps between and mobilizing stakeholders for the common good. I am excited to continue my collaboration with IFI, especially during a critical time for our country and the Middle East in general.”
- Carol Ayat