CAPE TOWN - The World Bank has named former Senegalese finance minister, Makhtar Diop to lead the agency responsible for private sector finance.
The international financial institution made the announcement on Thursday.
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Makhtar Diop to lead @IFC_org. As Managing Director & EVP, @Diop_WB will build on the unprecedented speed & scale of the @WorldBank Group’s response to the global crisis & help support vital recovery efforts. https://t.co/sDX37qhTC5
— World Bank (@WorldBank) February 18, 2021
According to the Guardian, Diop is the first African to lead the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which leverages financing to support private firms in developing nations.
Diop’s appointment comes on the back of the World Trade Organisation’s decision to select Nigeria’s former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as its new director-general, the first African and first woman to serve in that role.
Prior to Diop’s current appointment, he served for six years as the World Bank’s Vice President for the Africa Region, where he oversaw a major expansion of the bank's work in Africa and the delivery of a record-breaking US$70 billion (R1.02 trillion) in commitments, said a World Bank statement.
“Makhtar Diop has deep development and finance experience and a career of energetic leadership and service to developing countries in both public and private sectors,” Group President of the World Bank, David Malpass, said.
Diop played a key role in instituting structural reforms to lay a strong foundation for Senegal’s growth in the late 1980s.
Diop has been named one of the 100 most influential Africans in the world.
In 2015, he received the prestigious Regents’ Lectureship Award from the University of California, Berkeley.
Diop took to social media to say that he is honoured to have been appointed as @IFC_org's managing director and executive VP.
“More than ever, private sector growth in developing economies is key to improve people’s lives. Now is the time to boost inclusive growth and promote sustainable investments for the benefit of all,” said Diop
This appointment is effective March 1.
African News Agency