Panos Varangis

Focus Areas: Agricultural Finance, SME Finance, Agriculture Insurance

Panos Varangis becomes an independent consultant specializing in agricultural finance, insurance and risk management, upon retirement from IFC on April 30th, 2025.

Panos draws on his extensive knowledge and experiences in the financial sector and agricultural markets across various geographic regions. He combines strong academic background with practical expertise and market knowledge. 

Panos Varangis joined IFC’s FIG team in July 2020, as a principal specialist in agricultural finance and agricultural insurance. Panos led the global program to promote agricultural finance through financial institutions and has worked as an industry specialist in several investment and advisory projects across regions, primarily in Africa, Latin America and SE Europe. During his five years, IFC FIG’s portfolio in agriculture and food doubled.

From 2014 to 2020, he was the Head and Global Lead for agricultural finance in the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation (FCI), Global Practice at the World Bank. He was involved in projects across regions that facilitate financing for farmers and Agribusiness SMEs by working on public policy issues and financial products that involve the private sector. From 2009 to 2013, Panos led IFC’s advisory work to facilitate access to finance for SMEs, agribusiness and farmers and improve risk management. 

Key areas of focus of Panos’ work at IFC and FCI/WB were in de-risking agricultural investments through risk sharing facilities and partial credit guarantees; promoting agricultural insurance particularly index insurance; developing climate finance solutions for agriculture; and working on enhancing the capacity of financial institutions to lend more to agriculture which includes product development, credit risk assessment, portfolio monitoring, and development of a pipeline of bankable projects and clients. Most recently, Panos had been involved in projects to engage with AgTech platforms particularly in Africa that promote finance and insurance to smallholder farmers. In 2024 Panos was part of the investment team for Pula, an agriculture InsurTech firm and he was the IFC nominee in Pula’s Board.

Between 2004 and 2009, Panos served as the Deputy Governor of the Agricultural Bank of Greece andwas a member of the board of directors of Agrotiki Insurance, ATE Cards (ABG’s credit card company), and Mindbank, an SME bank in Romania (subsidiary of ABG). During his tenure, ABG improved the quality of its loan portfolio, strengthened its capital position and was partially privatized. 

From 1987 to 2004, Panos worked at the World Bank in various positions at the International Commodities Division, the International Trade Division, the Bank’s Research Department (DECRG), and at the Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD) Department where he oversaw a global program on commodity risk management and index insurance. Panos was instrumental in starting the work at the World Bank on index insurance back in 1999 when he received a development grant to explore the subject.

Panos holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University in New York and an MA in Economics from Georgetown University in Washington DC. He has published on agricultural finance and insurance. Panos speaks Greek (native), English, Spanish and Italian. He is Greek national with a US Permanent Residency.

Education

• PhD in Economics, Columbia University