Rafat Ali Al-Akhali is a development practitioner dedicated to addressing the challenges of development in fragile and conflict-affected situations. As a co-founder of DeepRoot Consulting, Rafat has been closely engaged in advising key stakeholders on political, economic, and development priorities in Yemen and has led and advised multiple development initiatives at the local and national level in Yemen. 

Rafat is a Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford where he was previously the Convenor of the Council on State Fragility, and managed the LSE-Oxford Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development as well as the secretariat of Pathways for Prosperity Commission on Technology and Inclusive Development. Rafat previously served as a Minister in the Government of Yemen, and prior to that led the government’s policy reforms team. He holds a master's degree in public policy (MPP) from the University of Oxford, and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), Montréal, Canada.