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Baroness Shriti Vadera has been appointed as an unpaid external adviser to the UK Chancellor, bringing international development and emerging-markets experience into Britain’s planned G20 presidency.
A role focused on G20 delivery
HM Treasury said Vadera’s appointment began on 21 October and will run until 31 July 2027. Her remit covers delivery of the G20 and international innovative-finance issues.
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Reuters reported that she will advise Chancellor John Healey on policy design and delivery during the presidency, with development finance a particular focus. The UK is due to chair the G20 next year.
The Treasury said its established processes for declaring and managing interests were followed. The advisory post is unpaid.
A familiar figure in global economic policy
Vadera brings experience from both government and international finance. She served on the Treasury’s Council of Economic Advisers between 1999 and 2007, before becoming a minister across the Cabinet Office, business department and Department for International Development from 2007 to 2009.
She was involved in the UK’s response to the 2008 financial crisis and helped negotiate outcomes from the G20 summit in London in 2009. She also previously advised the G20 during South Korea’s 2010 presidency.
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More recently, Vadera has chaired the World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab, which seeks to expand private investment in emerging markets. She stepped down as chair of Prudential in May 2026 and has previously chaired Santander UK.
Why development finance matters
Her appointment places a figure with a strong record in development and private-capital mobilisation close to Britain’s G20 planning. That matters to African and Caribbean countries, where the cost and availability of finance remains central to investment in infrastructure, climate resilience, energy and jobs.
The G20 has significant influence over the international financial institutions and policy debates that shape lending, debt sustainability and the flow of private capital to developing economies. African governments and regional institutions have repeatedly pressed wealthy countries to reform global finance so that it better reflects the needs and representation of the Global South.
Vadera’s experience includes advisory work connected to emerging markets and international development, while her current World Bank-linked role is specifically focused on increasing private finance for development and climate priorities.
A test for UK leadership
The appointment does not set out the UK’s final G20 agenda. But it signals that development finance and innovative ways of mobilising investment are likely to feature prominently in the government’s preparations.
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The key question for Black communities across Africa, the Caribbean and the diaspora will be whether that emphasis produces concrete progress: lower barriers to investment, fairer access to capital and a stronger voice for countries most affected by debt pressures and climate shocks.