Ismaila Dieng resigns from AfDB after five months

The Director of Communications and External Affairs of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Ismaila Dieng has reportedly resigned, after only five months in that position. Mr Dieng replaced Joel Kibazo.

Mr. Dieng before taking the senior management position at the multilateral organization on September 1, 2016, had worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC since 2009.

The reasons for his surprisingly early departure from the AfDB are not yet clear. However, there is currently a radical restructuring going on at the Bank, where most senior management officials were removed, some departments scrapped and others merged. The restructuring, some sources say, is meant to position the Bank to enable it fulfill its High Five goal.

The Bank’s President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina speaking at the Africa-France Summit in Bamako, Mali, said Africa could speed up its economic transformation through the Bank’s five main priorities: “The High 5;” “Light up and power Africa;” “Feed Africa,” “Industrialise Africa,” and “Integrate Africa.”

These five key priorities, he said,  aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, as demonstrated by an independent evaluation conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi