Axel van Trotsenburg (born December 6, 1958^[1]) is a dual Dutch-Austrian economist and development expert,^[2] serving as Senior Managing Director responsible for the World Bank’s Development Policy and Partnerships. He had several positions at the World Bank including managing director of Operations^[3] and acting CEO.^[4]

van Trotsenburg is responsible of expanding engagement on global public goods, climate change, and debt sustainability, as well as leading the World Bank's engagement with the United Nations, G20, G7, and other international financial institutions.^[5]

van Trotsenburg was born in Bussum, The Netherlands, and moved to Austria when he was 12 years old.^[6] He studied International Affairs at The Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe in Bologna, Italy^[7] and Economics at the University of Graz in Austria.^[8] He continued his graduate studies at Carleton University, earning a master's degree in International Relations,^[1] later earning his doctorate in economics at the University of Vienna.^[3]

van Trotsenburg began his career in economic research at the OECD, in Paris.^[9] He joined the World Bank as a young professional in 1988^[10][7] and was soon promoted to Country Economist for Guatemala.^[7]

While working on Guatemala, van Trotsenburg authored the project report that supported the Guatemala Government Economic Modernization Loan Project.^[11] He also authored the 1991 Guatemala Country economic memorandum^[12] and as a Senior Country Economist for Côte d'Ivoire in 1993, he authored reports on recommendations for loans to Côte d'Ivoire.^[7]

In 1996, he was promoted to manager for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC)]^[13] where he was in charge of the program that cancelled the debts of the world's poorest countries. He was named Country Director for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay^[7][14] in 2002^[15] and became the Country Director for Mexico and Colombia in 2007.^[14][10][16]

In 2009, van Trotsenburg assumed the role of Vice President for Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships^[17][18] and in 2013 was named vice president for the East Asia and Pacific Region.^[19] Three years later he was appointed vice president for Development Finance.^[20] During his time as vice president, he managed the 2018 General Capital Increase and IDA replenishment.^[21]

In 2019, he was named vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean.^[22][14][23] The same year, he became acting CEO of the World Bank^[24] and was then appointed in September 2019 as managing director of Operations.^[24][25][26]

In 2023, van Trotsenburg was promoted to Senior Managing Director, responsible for the World Bank’s Development Policy and Partnerships.^[27][28]