Specialist risk and intelligence advisory Pangea-Risk has hired Bilal Bassiouni as its first head of risk forecasting.

Johannesburg-based Bassiouni will oversee risk analysis for the Middle East and Red Sea regions. He specialises in analysing maritime security, sovereign debt assessments and economic diversification in the Persian Gulf.

His previous work includes senior analysis roles at DataEQ and S-RM, as well as political consultantcy.

“Bilal has a proven track record of delivering accurate and commercially relevant forecasts on country risk to Pangea-Risk’s fast growing client base, which includes the world’s largest insurers, banks, and development finance institutions,” says Pangea-Risk CEO and founder Robert Besseling.

“I am excited to announce Bilal’s appointment as head of risk forecasting and am assured that his expertise and experience will add value to our clients by assessing country risk in their regions of interest.”