The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has announced the appointment of Directors General for the East, Central and Southern Africa regions and Deputy Directors General for the East, Central, Northern, Southern and West Africa regions.
According to a statement, Serge N’Guessan, was appointed Director General, Central Africa Region.
As Director General, Serge will drive and ensure the operational efficiency,
effectiveness and overall health of the Bank’s portfolio across the Central Africa region.
He will also spearhead regional business development and investment, driving resource mobilisation across the countries under his remit and growing the business of the Bank significantly.
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Serge, a Canadian citizen, is a professional with over 30 years of experience in international development and portfolio management, who has held important representation roles within the Bank for almost 10 years.
Also, Nnenna Lily Nwabufo, was appointed Director General, East Africa Region, by the AfDB. In her new role, she will be responsible for leading and advancing the Bank Group’s strategic objective of achieving significant and transformational developmental impact in thirteen countries in East Africa by ensuring operational efficiency, effectiveness and an overall healthy portfolio in the region.
Specifically, she will lead high-level dialogues at country and regional levels and across Bank sector complexes as well as oversee the full implementation and integration of all aspects of the Bank’s work in the region.
A Nigerian citizen, Nnenna is a versatile and seasoned executive with over 30 years’ professional experience in treasury and financial management, budget programming, planning and performance management, human resource and corporate services management, and country/regional operations.
In the same vein, Leïla Farah Mokadem, was appointed Director General, Southern Africa Region of the AfDB. In the new role, she will drive high-level dialogue and Bank’s operations, ensuring the Bank operates efficiently, effectively and successfully in the relevant countries, within the region.
A Tunisian national, she is a seasoned professional in International Finance. She has over 25 years of experience with multilateral development banks and international institutions.
The AfDB also appointed Dr. Solomane Koné as Deputy Director General, Central Africa Region. He is a national of Côte d’Ivoire and has been Acting Director General for the Central Africa Region since January 2020, as well as Country Manager for the African Development Bank’s Office in Cameroon.
In these capacities, he was involved in high-level strategic country and regional dialogue with different stakeholders, governments, and other development partners, including co-financing arrangements and donor coordination particularly in the context of the Regional Economic and Financial Reform Program of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (PREF-CEMAC).
In addition, the AfBD appointed Dr. Abdul B. Kamara as Deputy Director General, East Africa Region. A citizen of Sierra Leone, he is currently the African Development Bank Group’s Country Manager for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
He is a development economist with over two decades of experience in development policy research, development financing and policy work on Africa’s economic transformation and development.
Malinne Blomberg, was also appointed Deputy Director General, North Africa Region. A Swedish citizen, she a seasoned finance professional with solid experience in developing strategies, providing advisory services, and executing operations for results in both the public and private sectors.
She has over 15 years of experience in development finance, gained largely from serving the Bank since 2008 when she joined the Water and Sanitation Department as Financial Management Specialist and later was in charge of its Division covering West and Central Africa.
Kennedy Mbekeani was also appointed Deputy Director General, Southern Africa Region
Kennedy, a Malawian citizen, is a seasoned development economist with over 20 years of senior level country and regional experience in development finance, project management, policy advisory services, and knowledge generation. Kennedy joined the Bank in 2009 as Chief Trade and Regional Integration Officer. He provided leadership in formulating the Bank’s trade assistance strategy to regional economic communities and on policy research on international trade, economic integration and development.
Similarly, Dr. Joseph Martial Ribeiro, was appointed Deputy Director General, West Africa Region.
A Cape Verdean national, Ribeiro is currently Manager of the African Development Bank Group for the Angola Country Office, which also covers Sao Tome and Principe. Prior to joining the AfDB, he worked as a consulting engineer, particularly in the areas of water and sanitation, and has extensive experience in university education in Canada and Senegal, as well as solid experience in academic and industrial research. He joined the Bank in 2000 and has served as Senior Irrigation Specialist (2000-2005), Procurement Specialist (2005-2009), Representative for Angola (2009-2011), Resident Representative for Mozambique (2011-2017) and Country Manager for Angola and Sao Tome and Principe (2017-Present).
