Cory O’Hara has spent over 20 years driving trade, investment, and finance across Africa, mobilizing more than $1 billion in capital and boosting exports by hundreds of millions of dollars. With deep experience in both East and West Africa, he has built the relationships and deal-making expertise that connect global investors to high-growth African markets.

He most recently served as Director of USAID’s Office of Economic Growth and Integration in Kenya, managing an $80 million annual portfolio across ten countries. In this role, he spearheaded initiatives that mobilized over $1 billion in financing, expanded agricultural and manufacturing exports by more than $500 million, and increased incomes for 800,000 smallholder farmers.

Cory’s career is distinguished by his technical depth in trade and finance and his practical mastery of African regulatory and policy frameworks. In West Africa, he served as USAID’s Trade and Investment Team Leader in Ghana, where he designed innovative co-investment grants with American and African firms, advancing value chains for commodities such as shea and cashew. He built enduring sector platforms like the Global Shea Alliance and the African Cashew Alliance, linking African producers to international buyers and shaping standards that continue to guide the industry today.

As a subject-matter expert in trade policy and export promotion, Cory has advised governments, industry associations, and multilateral partners on regulatory reform. He co-created the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation with the World Economic Forum and International Chamber of Commerce, aligning policy frameworks with private-sector needs. Earlier, he designed a $1 billion regional trade infrastructure facility to improve cross-border logistics in East Africa — work that required detailed knowledge of customs regulations, regional trade protocols, and global market access rules.

Across his career, Cory has forged hundreds of performance-based partnerships with companies and financial institutions to expand finance, improve supply chains, and strengthen local value-addition. He has also pioneered the use of revolving funds and innovative financial products tailored to smallholder-inclusive growth.

Cory holds a Master’s in International Economic and Security Policy from the University of Maryland, where he graduated as valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA. Widely respected for his strategic insight and technical rigor, he brings to Anchorage Africa both specialized knowledge of Africa’s trade and regulatory environments and the relationships to unlock capital flows across the continent

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