Roukaya joined the Growth Lab in 2022 as a Senior Research Fellow as part of the Applied Research team.

Before joining the Growth Lab, Roukaya worked as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, where she led strategy and implementation projects for public and private organizations in Africa, focusing on power and infrastructure. Previously, she worked at the GSMA as a User Research Manager investigating the impact of mobile-based services on low-income households. Prior to that, Roukaya was an Operations Consultant for four years, working on improving the performance of manufacturing plants and optimizing the supply-chain of firms in Europe, United States and Brazil. She also worked for the World Bank at the Africa Trade & Transportation unit, where she was part of the design, negotiation, and supervision of major transportation infrastructure projects in West and Central Africa.

Roukaya holds an MSc in Engineering from Ecole National des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris), an MSc in Operations Research, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Her research interests focus on: labor markets, the knowledge economy, and industrial policy.