Mathias Hounkpe is currently the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) country director for Mali. Mathias has more than 20 years of experience promoting elections and good governance in West Africa, including vast experience with electoral processes as a program implementer, researcher, observer, thought leader and educator. Mathias comes (back) to IFES from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) where he led the Political Governance and Democratic Consolidation program in West Africa for the past eight years after serving as Head of OSIWA Guinea Office for over two years.