Niamh McBurney leads Control Risks’ political, regulatory, and operational analysis on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and oversees the practice’s analysis on the Arabian Peninsula. Based in Dubai, she supports clients in navigating myriad political risks, opportunities and challenges for investors and operators in a range of sectors through custom advisory work and contributions to our subscription services. Her areas of expertise are GCC politics, regional security, and regional energy markets.
Prior to joining Control Risks, Niamh worked for Verisk Maplecroft where she was Head of the Middle East and North Africa team and led analytical coverage of several Gulf countries, OPEC/+ strategy and global oil markets. Niamh’s decade-long career in political risk spans MENA-focused roles at consultancies including Eurasia Group, Risk Advisory Group, and IHS Markit. Her BA and MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) were both focused on Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, with a specialisation in the GCC. Niamh is research proficient in Arabic and French.
Niamh has been quoted by various media outlets, including Bloomberg, CNBC and Monocle Radio.