Ugo is a Senior Evaluation Officer for the Private Sector Unit at the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank Group (IEG). Ugo joined IEG in 2024 from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where he served as a Senior Strategy Officer in the Strategy and Economics Unit of the Africa Region from 2017 to 2024. In this role, Ugo led or contributed to several Country Private Sector Diagnostics (CPSDs) and Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs). Additionally, Ugo worked with both Management and Operations, providing macroeconomic and strategic input to briefs, country strategy documents, investment project documents, and country engagement products.

Prior to this, from 2008 to 2017, Ugo was a Results Measurement Specialist in IFC’s Development Impact Department (CDI), where, among other things, he led CDI’s Corporate Reporting function and monitored the development outcomes of investment operations. Notably, Ugo spearheaded the Indicator Harmonization Initiative among International Finance Institutions (IFIs), brokering a groundbreaking agreement among 25 IFIs on 38 monitoring indicators for private sector operations, which established an international standard (HIPSO) that reduces the reporting cost for shared private sector clients.

Prior to joining the WBG Ugo taught and researched political science at the University of Genoa and, as a visiting fellow, at Princeton University, publishing both in English and Italian.

Ugo’s graduate studies include a PhD in Political Science from the University of Florence, an MBA from Georgetown University.