Makhtar Diop: Former Senegalese Minister to Head IFC from March

The World Bank Group on Thursday announced the appointment of Senegalese economist, Makhtar Diop, as Managing Director and Executive Vice President to head the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The IFC is an arm of the World Bank Group that promotes economic development through the private sector. While the Bank lends to the governments of member countries, the IFC, working with business partners, invests in private enterprises in developing countries without the need for government guarantees.

“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,” the bank’s president David Malpass said in a press statement. “Makhtar’s skills at IFC will help the World Bank Group continue our rapid response to the global crisis.”

With the appointment effective March 1, 2021, Diop’s key responsibilities will be to deepen and energize IFC’s 3.0 strategy of proactively creating markets and mobilizing private capital at a significant scale; deliver on the IFC capital package policy commitments including increased climate and gender investments and support for FCV countries facing fragility, conflict, and violence, the bank said.

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The IFC 3.0 strategy seeks to help countries create markets and mobilize private capital, including broadening upstream engagement by getting involved earlier in the project development cycle to create the conditions needed for private-sector solutions and investment opportunities.

According to the World Bank, the strategy also aims to expand IFC’s impact in the poorest and most fragile countries, with a goal to more than triple IFC’s annual own-account investments.

“Looking forward to mobilizing private capital and creating markets to overcome Covid-19-related challenges,” Diop said in a post on LinkedIn, responding to his appointment. “The private sector has a crucial role to play in reviving economic growth and paving the way for a more inclusive and sustainable future.”

In July, the private sector unit said announced a $4 billion financing platform aimed at boosting the production and supply of critical healthcare products in developing countries to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Diop, a former Minister of Economy and Finance, is currently serving as the World Bank’s Vice President for Infrastructure, where he leads the Bank’s global efforts to build effective infrastructure in developing and emerging markets. In this role, Diop oversees the Bank’s critical work across energy and transport sectors, digital development, and our efforts to bring more quality infrastructure services to communities through public-private partnerships.

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Prior to his current appointment, Diop served for six years as the World Bank’s Vice President for the Africa Region, where he oversaw a major expansion of our work in Africa and the delivery of a record-breaking $70 billion in commitments.

Diop served twice as a World Bank Country Director – for Brazil and for Kenya, Eritrea, and Somalia. He started his career in the banking sector, holds advanced degrees in economics and finance. and has first-hand experience in leading structural reforms in support of the private sector. Diop worked as an economist in the International Monetary Fund and also served as the World Bank Director for Finance, Private Sector & Infrastructure in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

A recognized opinion leader in development, Makhtar 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.

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