SOAZIC ELISE WANG SONNE | Economist
World Bank Group

Soazic Elise Wang Sonne is an Economist and data scientist with the Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) unit of the World Bank Group based in Washington, DC. She has been leading immunization financing analytical work in Lower Middle-Income Country (LMIC) countries in the Africa region, including the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Angola. She joined the World Bank Group in 2019 as a Young Professional. Her main areas of interest include immunization and health financing, health data and analytics, and Public Financial Management (PFM) for sustainable immunization financing.  Soazic has been leading health and immunization financing technical assistance and policy dialogue in Ghana, Angola, the Central African Republic, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Republic of Congo through macro-economic Fiscal Space Analysis, Public Expenditure and Finance Review, Immunization Financing System Assessment, and Costing. Additionally, she is the World Bank data lab lead at HAWH3, with an interest in assessing AI's role in primary health care services delivery and productivity impacts on health workers through a partnership with the pioneer AI research center in Africa headquartered in Brazzaville, The Republic of Congo (CARIA). She holds a PhD in innovation, economics and governance for sustainable development (IEGSD) from the United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology;  a joint research and training institute of the United Nations University and Maastricht University (UNU-MERIT), an MBA from Imperial College London (UK)  and a double Msc/Eng degree in statistics and applied economics from the National School of Statistics and Applied Economics from (ENSAE/CAPESA Paris). She holds a Graduate Public Leadership Credential from the Harvard Kennedy School (with distinction) and a graduate certificate on Public Finance from the National School of Public Administration of Canada/ Quebec (ENAP). She was a visiting research scholar at UC Berkeley, the University of Oxford, New York University Global TIES for Children, and the data lab of the Max Planck institute for demographic research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany. Elise has received numerous academic fellowships and research prizes including the 2024 World Health Summit (WHS) emerging leaders program in Melbourne, Australia; the 2021 WHS Berlin Young Voice of the South, the 2021 Washington DC Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)  fellowship, the 2022 Atlantic Dialogue King of Morocco Prize for young leaders in Marrakech, Morocco; the Cameroon UK Chevening Women Scholarship; the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) fellowship; the 2018 European Investment Bank/Global Development Network (EIB/GDN) research fellowship and the 2020 UK Imperial College London MBA Women Award. Elise is a recognized 2022 STEM mentor for the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) and a Jury of the Einstein Foundation for promoting quality in research. Her work has been published in the Journal of Development studies, Oxford Development Studies, Journal of Development Effectiveness, Plos One and Migration Studies (Oxford University).