Xavi Cirera is an economist in the Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Global Practice of the World Bank Group. He has more than 10 years of experience working in the areas of trade policy, trade competitiveness and firm-level export diversification and innovation, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil. Prior to joining the Bank, he was a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Sussex. His work at ITE spans over the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation, including women's entrepreneurship in Pakistan and innovation in Kenya.