Dr Nicholas Charalambides is an international trade economist and Director at Imani Development International. He has over 30 years of experience in Southern and Eastern Africa, specialising in regional integration, trade, and legal & regulatory frameworks.

As a senior trade and regional integration expert, he has played a significant role in promoting the African trade agenda on the African continent, working on numerous projects to do with the AfCFTA, trade policy, trade negotiations, trade facilitation, non-tariff barriers and EPAs. Some recent notable projects Nick has worked on include Assessing the Africa Market Place for Trade in Goods under the AfCFTA (2021) and providing Expertise to Measure the Impact of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) in the East African Community (EAC) (2020 – 2022).

Nick’s impressive track record also includes leading a project with the African Union that aims to drive sustainable development and ESG compliance across the continent. Additionally, he has made significant contributions in the areas of investment and business advocacy, and his extensive private sector experience has enabled him to provide technical assistance and capacity building on several private sector development projects, such as Overcoming Barriers to Supply Chain Integration – Lessons from the Private Sector (2014-2015) and SME Export Capacity Building to Develop Nigeria-UK Business Linkages in Goods and Services (2019 – 2020).

Nick has a rich history working with regional institutions like COMESA, SADC, EAC and SACU, along with governments and other stakeholders. Nick holds a Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University, a Master’s in Economics from Queen Mary & Westfield College and an LLM in International Business Law from University of Liverpool.