Christine Hougaard

Christine has been part of the Cenfri team since 2008. She has deep experience in applying a systems-level approach to diverse topics including market diagnostics, regulatory design, consumer protection, financial sector development, financial inclusion measurement and the interplay between digital transformation and sustainable development. She has worked with a range of regulators and stakeholders in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia.

In her spare time, Christine keeps busy raising her three young children, and when the opportunity arises, she enjoys a captivating book, keeping fit and a nice cup of tea.

Recent highlights

• Working to develop context-appropriate consumer protection guidelines in Southern Africa and devising novel consumer protection measurement approaches at the country and global level
• Leading i2i’s work on financial needs measurement framework development, including drafting a toolkit with the Alliance for Financial inclusion
• Co-leading Cenfri’s regulating for innovation portfolio
• A long track record working on inclusive insurance with the Access to Insurance Initiative, FSD Africa and others: developing cross-country synthesis reports and toolkits, as well as in-country stakeholder-building and implementation action plans

Qualifications

• Master of Economics, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
• Master’s module in Regulatory and Competition Economics, University of Witwatersrand, South Afric