Bibek Raj Kandel is an energy and climate advisor with over 15 years of experience working across Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, specializing in infrastructure development, governance, and political economy. 

He has led initiatives such as expanding grid electrification to over 70,000 households, businesses, and public institutions in Rwanda, and designing a €25 million climate-resilient infrastructure program in Mozambique as part of post-Cyclone Idai recovery efforts. In Nepal, he has advised the Alternative Energy Promotion Center, the country’s national renewable energy agency. Earlier in his career, he managed a Rwanda-based initiative that supported over 30 early-stage energy and climate ventures across East Africa.

Bibek has collaborated with national governments and global institutions including Enabel, International Renewable Energy Agency, and the World Bank on infrastructure advisory, energy policy, utility reform, and private sector engagement. Most recently, he contributed to a UNDP-led regional study on just energy transitions and their distributional impacts across more than 30 Asia-Pacific economies.

He currently serves on the boards of Bhutan Global Group and Canopy USA, and is a senior fellow at the Nepal Economic Forum. 

Bibek holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School, along with degrees in energy management and engineering.

As an AsiaGlobal Fellow, his research explored cross-border grid interconnection, regional cooperation, and transition finance in South and Southeast Asia, reflecting his broader interest in how Asian institutions respond to geopolitical, energy, and climate challenges.