The African Development Bank’s senior vice-president Frannie Léautier has resigned after less than a year at the bank.
Charles Boamah, who serves as vice-president for finance, will replace her as senior vice-president.
“We will miss Frannie at the bank. I highly commend her strong dedication and commitment to helping drive institutional reforms at the bank,” said the bank’s president Akinwumi Adesina.
Tanzanian citizen Léautier joined the Bank in May 2016 from Mkopa Private Equity Fund, a private equity fund focused on SMEs in sub-Saharan Africa, which she co-founded and chaired.
She made her name at the World Bank Group, which she joined in 1992 as a transport economist for Latin America. She also spent time in Asia before rising to the position of vice-president and head of the World Bank Institute from 2001 to 2007.
Since then, she has worked in higher education in Paris, managed risk advisors The Fezembat Group and served as executive secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation.
Boamah’s background is more finance-oriented than Léautier’s development-focussed background. He worked as an accountant at PwC and as a financial analyst at First Interstate Bank, which merged with Wells Fargo Bank, before joining the AfDB in 1996. He has served in a number of finance-related roles and led a number of important bank-wide finance initiatives, leading to his current role and a position on the bank’s senior management committee.
“This is a seamless transition,” continued Adesina.
“Charles Boamah brings over 25 years of development finance experience and deep knowledge of the bank. He has done a remarkable job as vice-president for finance. As he takes on the role of senior vice-president, I am confident the senior leadership team and our staff will continue the positive trajectory of our institutional reforms to accelerate the delivery of the High 5 priorities of the bank.”
