Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, November 24, 2016 – Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), today announced the appointments of Mr. Janvier Litse as Director General, West Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office; Mr. Ousmane Dore as Director General, Central Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office; Mr. Gabriel Negatu as Director General, East Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office; Mr. Mohamed El Azizi as Director General of the Bank’s North Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office; Dr Tonia Kandiero as Director General, Southern Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office; and Mr. Ebrima Faal as Director of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Office.“I am pleased to announce the appointments of five Director Generals,” said Adesina. “With the completion of the appointments of the Directors General and the Country Managers to support them, as well as the Director of the Nigeria Country Office – all following the recruitment of all Vice-Presidents – the Bank is now fully set to roll out its New Development and Business Delivery Model. This will allow us to achieve the High 5s to accelerate the achievement of our Ten Year Strategy.”
Mr. Janvier Litse, Director General West Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office
Mr. Janvier Litse, Cameroonian, has twenty-four years of experience at the African Development Bank. A highly versatile leader, he has held various positions of responsibilities at the Bank. He served as Acting Vice President, Operations from 2011–2012, and from 2014 to present. In his current role, he leads a team of 700 people and has responsibility for the whole of the Bank’s portfolio.
“Mr. Janvier Litse brings extensive experience in operations across the entire Bank Group and has shown remarkable leadership over the years. He is a great asset to the Bank and an excellent manager of people and operations. I am delighted that he will provide astute leadership to drive the New West Africa Development and Business Delivery Model. He is very well respected by stakeholders,” Adesina said.
Dr. Ousmane Dore, Director General, Central Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office
Dr. Ousmane Dore, a citizen of Guinea, brings more than 20 years of experience spanning development finance, government, and academia. In 2007, he served as Minister of Economy, Finance and Planning for the Government of Guinea. He brings senior level and practical experience in engaging at the highest levels of government across the region.
Dr. Dore joined the African Development Bank in 2011 as Resident Representative and later as Country Director of Nigeria. In this capacity, he grew and diversified the Bank’s portfolio and played a key role in regional dialogues through his work with the Economic Community of West African States. He oversees a strong diverse portfolio of over US $4.5 billion.
Before joining the Bank, Dr. Dore worked with the International Monetary Fund. In 2007, Dr. Dore was appointed Minister of Economy, Finance and Planning of Guinea.
“Dr. Ousmane Dore is an accomplished economist with extensive experience in operations, financial and macro-economic management. He has led and effectively managed very large and complex Bank operations in Nigeria. As the Bank moves to the New Development and Business Delivery Model in Central Africa, Dr. Dore’s solid experience, leadership and drive will be great assets for the Bank,” Adesina said.
Mr. Gabriel Negatu, Director East Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office
Mr. Negatu has more than 25 years of senior level program, operations and managerial experience, including 18 years at the African Development Bank. He brings extensive experience in operations, having been senior and principal program officer (1998-2002), Chief Program Officer (2002-2006) and Sector Director for Economic and Financial Governance, where he led the Bank’s first governance department. He was credited for successfully leading the Bank’s response to the global financial crisis and for spearheading the use of budget support operations for fragile states.
“Mr. Gabriel Negatu is an effective leader. He was the pioneer Regional Director for the East Africa Regional Resource Center, which he successfully developed and which now manages the largest operations in the Bank. He is very well respected in the region. As the Bank moves to the New Development and Business Delivery Model, Gabriel’s solid experience, leadership and drive will be great assets for the Bank,” Adesina said of the appointment.
Mr. Mohamed El Azizi, Director General North Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office
Mr. Mohamed El Azizi, Moroccan, has 26 years of experience, including extensive senior level managerial experience in leading high performing teams in national, regional and international organizations. He is a well-respected development expert and has broad experience in successfully developing infrastructure projects in Africa. He is a Member of the Board of Governors of the World Water Council.
Mr. El Azizi is currently the Director, Water and Sanitation Department and African Water Facility at the Bank, managing a portfolio of 105 operations in 38 African countries worth about US $3.4 billion. He has accumulated extensive knowledge of infrastructure sector strategies in different African countries and has solid knowledge of the operation’s procedures of the Bank. He has an impressive record of donor coordination and partnership development. He successfully led teams to mobilize 6 billion Euros for rural water supply and sanitation initiative in Africa.
“Mr. Mohamed El Azizi is a proven leader with extensive experience in Bank operations. He has led and effectively managed very large and complex Bank projects. He brings years of experience in working with public and private sectors across Africa. Mohamed’s leadership, ability to build effective partnerships and deep knowledge of North Africa region will be great assets to the Bank’s as he leads our work in the region,” Adesina said.
Dr. Tonia Kandiero, Director General, Southern Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office
Dr. Tonia Kandiero, Malawian, has worked across Southern Africa and brings experience in government, academia and international financial institutions. She is currently the African Development Bank’s Resident Representative for Tanzania, responsible for managing one of the largest African Development Fund beneficiaries with a portfolio of US$2 billion. As Resident Representative, Dr. Kandiero has enhanced dialogue with partners, donor coordination, and the Bank’s profile in Tanzania.
The President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said: “Dr. Tonia Kandiero has successfully grown and managed the Bank’s operations in Tanzania, where she is overseeing the Bank’s largest operations under the African Development Fund. Tonia’s experience in regional trade, macroeconomics, policy and operations of the Bank, and deep knowledge of the region, will be very helpful as the Bank rolls out its New Development and Business Delivery Model for accelerating its operations in the Southern Africa region”.
Mr. Ebrima Faal, Director, Nigeria Country Office
The Nigeria Country Office is the largest single office of the African Development Bank, which oversees a portfolio of over $ 5 billion and deals with 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
Mr. Ebrima Faal, Gambian, is a seasoned development leader with diverse global operational experience. He brings substantive expertise in banking operations, administration, and strategy, developed over nearly 25 years working at the African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He is currently the Director of the Office of the Senior Vice-President of the African Development Bank, where he executes and manages corporate performance, provides oversight for operations across different departments and Vice Presidencies of the Bank and supports corporate planning and strategy execution. He provided leadership on the design and approval of the new Development and Business Delivery Model of the Bank and the High Five priorities of the Bank to accelerate the achievement of the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy.
The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina said: “Mr. Ebrima Faal brings extensive leadership in operations management from his many years of experience within the African Development Bank and other international financial institutions. He successfully led the Bank to develop and establish its Southern Africa Regional Resource Centre. As a Senior Director in charge of the Nigeria Country Office, Ebrima’s solid experience in economics, public financial management and operations management will help in further developing and managing the wide public and private sector portfolios in Nigeria, the largest regional member country of the Bank”.