Ashley Elliot | West Africa Analyst
Control Risks

Ashley recently joined Control Risks as an analyst on the Africa desk. He provides political and security risk analysis on West Africa for Control Risks’ subscription services, Country Risk Forecast and PRIME, as well as undertaking bespoke services for clients operating in the region. Prior to joining Control Risks, Ashley worked in the office of the director of strategy at the World Bank Group. His work there focused on budget support mechanisms in sub-Saharan Africa, and on energy infrastructure and land reform projects in a range of countries. Previously he worked as a research scholar at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development in Accra, focusing on regional security architecture and economic integration in West Africa. Ashley has on the ground experience in East Africa and the Great Lakes region, having worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Kenya and as a journalist reporting from Uganda, Rwanda and Congo (DRC) for a Nairobi-based newspaper. Ashley holds a BA in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University and an MA in International Economics and African Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. His studies focused on the regional and international dimensions of sub-national conflict in Africa. His publications on Islamism and its adversaries in the Horn of Africa have appeared in peer-reviewed journals, including the South African Journal of International Affairs. Ashley speaks English (native) and French (proficient).