Global Affairs & Strategic Advisory
Independent analysis and strategic perspectives on commercial diplomacy, international affairs, and the forces shaping global markets and partnerships.
Featured Insights
Commercial Diplomacy / Analysis
Why commercial diplomacy is best understood as a shared practice between governments, intermediaries, and firms — and a simple framework for analysing it.
2 min readDemo
West Africa & Regional Integration / Policy Brief
A policy-brief template applied to West African integration — the structural questions external partners should ask before designing programs or market strategies.
2 min readDemo
Strategic Communications / Strategic Perspective
A strategic perspective on why institutional messages change meaning across languages and cultures — and what that means for organizations working internationally.
1 min readDemo
Areas of Focus
Trade relationships, market access, economic diplomacy, and cross-border engagement.
02Political developments, regional economic integration, energy security, and policy implications.
03Stakeholder communication, international messaging, cross-cultural engagement, and institutional positioning.
04Stakeholder mapping, institutional collaboration, program coordination, and partnership development.
Global Perspective
International questions rarely look the same from every capital. MD Strategies draws on lived and professional experience across Africa, Europe, and North America to read developments in context.
A native French and Bambara/Dyula speaker with a particular focus on West Africa, including Côte d'Ivoire, regional economic integration, and Africa's evolving relationships with global markets. Professional work has included partnerships in Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and across North Africa.
Eight years based in Rome, supporting the international business development of an Italian pharmaceutical manufacturer across the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia — including market entry, due diligence, and partner negotiations.
Graduate training in international affairs in New York, with experience in U.S. government-relations research, public diplomacy, cross-cultural dialogue programs, and complex public-service coordination.
From Insight to Strategy
Every piece of analysis is built to move from understanding a development to recognising what it means for the people who must act on it.
Track political, economic, and diplomatic developments, with attention to primary sources and regional voices.
Place events within their historical, institutional, and cultural setting — the step most often skipped.
Identify the interests, incentives, and stakeholders at play, and where they are likely to converge or collide.
Turn analysis into clear implications, options, and questions that decision-makers can use.
Meet the Founder
Founder, MD Strategies
Mamadou Doumbia is an international affairs professional with a Master of International Affairs and eight years of international business development experience, building partnerships with health ministries, nonprofit organizations, and private companies across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. MD Strategies was founded to bring that blend of field experience and analytical training to questions of commercial diplomacy, regional integration, and cross-border partnership.
Read the full biographyMD Strategies welcomes conversations about research collaborations, commentary, professional partnerships, and exploratory advisory work.