Dr. Kalu , MFR is the chairman of the Institute for policy and Economic Development. Educated at Kings College Lagos, Dr Kalu holds three degrees in Economics and Public Finance (UW – Madison) and is a Yale Stimson Fellow. Over the past 4 decades, Dr. Kalu’s work in the field of economic policy and development planning has spanned many regions in East Asia and Africa. He has participated extensively in research work on developing countries and has lectured at the University level. While at the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific Programmes Department, Dr. Kalu contributed significantly to micro and macro-economic work on the economies of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

In the Private sector, Dr. Kalu joined Skoup & Company Limited as head of the economics division. During his tenure, he directed major studies covering both industrial and agricultural sectors including oil, LNG, steel, petro chemicals, and agricultural infrastructure and credit .

In the public sector, Dr. Kalu has held many ministerial positions in Nigeria including Commissioner of Finance and Economic Planning in IMO State, Nigeria, Federal Minister of Finance under two regimes, Federal Minister of National Planning and the Federal Minister of Transport. Over this period, Dr. Kalu has served as Chairman in numerous institutions such as ECOWAS Council of Ministers, African Development Bank, Council of Economic Advisors, Centre for Advanced Social Studies (CASS, Port Harcourt, Nigeria) and as a member of the Development Committee at the World Bank. Dr. Kalu played a leading role in the formulation of Nigeria’s economic reform policies. He helped to lay the basic foundation for Nigeria’s policies of economic liberalization, globalization, and privatization. He represented Nigeria at various world conferences as well. Though currently back in the private sector, Dr. Kalu frequently engages in the formulation of policy at both the state and federal levels in Nigeria. He was designated Nigeria’s Candidate for the Deputy Director General position at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1999, and later appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the European Union (EU) in 2000. More recently, he was appointed to serve on a special Niger Delta Technical Committee to advise on a final resolution of the Niger Delta crisis in Nigeria. In January 2012, he was appointed to chair the federal government’s special task force on the Nigerian refineries.

Dr. Kalu currently serves on the board of several organizations both within and outside of Nigeria. Most notably, he is the chairman of BGL PLC; an investment bank that is a major player in the financial market and well known in public sector advisory and private sector consultancy. Dr. Kalu’s work and contributions are regularly referenced in current publications, magazines, and newspapers. As a former presidential candidate (2003), Dr. Kalu continues to be proactive in the Nigerian political arena.