Alexander Sotiriou

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Alexander Sotiriou works across a range of issues at CGAP, including micro and small enterprise (MSE) finance and the linkages between financial services, improved livelihoods, and access to basic services.

He joined CGAP from MicroVest, where he was the investment manager for Latin America and managed a portfolio of investments in the region’s leading microfinance and small and medium enterprise finance institutions. Earlier, Alexander was an associate in Citi’s Johannesburg and Mexico City offices, where he developed corporate and project finance solutions for corporations and governments across Africa and in Mexico. He has also worked as an analyst for a private equity fund in Mexico and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso and Guatemala.

Alexander has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Economics from the University of Arizona.

By Alexander Sotiriou

Research

No Small Business: A Segmented Approach to Better Finance for Micro and Small Enterprises

This paper is based on primary research conducted with 383 micro and small enterrpises (MSEs) in India, Kenya, and Peru – three diverse emerging markets with a vibrant MSE finance ecosystem that includes strong incumbent providers like microfinance institutions, cooperatives, and banks, as well as innovative new providers like fintechs.
Blog

As PAYGo Moves Beyond Solar, Addressing Risks Can Ensure Impact

PAYGo financing is expanding beyond solar, creating the potential to improve the lives of low-income households through financial inclusion. The challenge will be to manage the accompanying consumer risks without killing innovation.
Blog

Opening Pandora’s Box: Revisiting the Impact of Small Business Finance

The debate over the impact of small business finance is far from settled. Here are four gaps in the evidence base that should be filled to move the debate forward.
Blog

Microfinance and COVID-19: Is Insolvency on the Horizon?

Global survey data shows a sharp increase in nonperforming and restructured microfinance loans during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but strong capitalization among most MFIs mitigates the risk of insolvency.
Blog

Survey Shows Gathering Clouds, but No Storm (Yet) for Microfinance

How is COVID-19 impacting the portfolios of microfinance institutions (MFIs)? Are MFIs facing a liquidity crisis? Is the solvency of institutions at risk? CGAP's global, monthly survey began two weeks ago, and answers are beginning to emerge.