Makhtar Diop is World Bank Vice President for Infrastructure
The World Bank has appointed of Makhtar Diop as its Vice President for Infrastructure, a press release from the Bank copied to ghanabusinessnews.com says.
Since 2001, Mr. Makhtar has served the Bank in different capacities prior to his appointment, including serving as Director for Finance, Private Sector and Infrastructure in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region. He also held the position of the World Bank’s Country Director for Kenya, Eritrea, Somalia and Brazil, at different. He was appointed as the Bank’s Vice President for Africa by the Bank President, Robert Zoellick on May 1, 2012.
According to the release, his tenure as the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa for the past six years saw the delivery of $70 billion to sub-Saharan Africa to help address key development challenges. Mr. Diop was highly instrumental in mobilizing private finance to support Africa’s Infrastructural development and creating an enabling environment for innovation and technology adoption.
As a strong advocate for clean and affordable energy, he pushed for greater investment in renewable energy and greater interconnectivity in the power and transport sectors in Africa, it said.
It indicates that in addition to his international organization experience, Mr. Diop, an economist by training who started his career in finance in the banking sector before joining the IMF and later the World Bank, has extensive private sector experience. He also has served his country in diverse capacities, most notably the position of Minister of Economy and Finance of Senegal.
The release notes that the newly created Infrastructure Vice Presidency, which Mr. Diop has been appointed to, embodies Transport and Digital Development, Energy and Extractives, Infrastructure Finance and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).
“In this new global position, he will be expected to spearhead the Bank’s work on infrastructure and infrastructure finance as well as lead efforts to develop sustainable solutions and help close the Infrastructure gap in developing and emerging economies,” the release said.
His appointment will be effective as of July 1, 2018.
By Bismark Elorm Addo