The African Development Bank has announced, on April 4, the appointment of Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, a Cameroonian national, as the new Vice President for its Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery complex. The appointment is effective from the 1st of April 2023.
Before her appointment, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade was Acting Vice President for the complex, and Director General of the Bank’s Business Development and Delivery Office for the West Africa Region. She is a seasoned senior executive with close to 31 years of experience delivering technical, managerial and strategic knowledge and leadership in capital markets, treasury, asset management and product development at the African Development Bank.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, said the bank, led the development and implementation of transformative strategies, programmes and transactions, positioning the African Development Bank as the “Solutions Bank.” Working with the largest team of country managers in the institution, she was engaged on the full complexity of its lending and non-lending operations in middle-income and low-income countries. These have included transition states, as well as innovative and complex cross border operations.
In contexts that are often difficult and under pressure, particularly in the Sahel region, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade has worked to ensure that the $9 billion active West Africa portfolio delivers rapid results. She oversaw the accelerated delivery of results on the $9 billion West Africa portfolio, engaging with governments, the private sector, regional economic communities, and non-state actors, to achieve significant, life-transforming development impact.
Rich career at the AfDB
A graduate of the Université Paris-Dauphine in France, where she obtained a masters’ degree in applied economics, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade also holds a postgraduate diploma in management from the Université Panthéon- Sorbonne.
She joined the African Development Bank in the trading room of its Treasury Department in 1991 as a finance assistant, where she worked until 1993, when she became an investment officer. She served in that role from 1993 to 1997, managing the Bank’s assets in international capital markets. Subsequently, she became a principal financial analyst in the Financial Technical Services Division, where she was responsible for clients’ financial solutions across the continent.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade was appointed Manager of the Bank’s Financial Technical Services Division in 2008 and held that position through 2010. In that role, she oversaw new product development, client financial solutions and risk management services. She also led the team that authored the African Fixed Income and Derivatives Guidebook published in 2010.
After close to 20 years, Akin-Olugbade moved to the African Development Bank’s Operations complex and was appointed Country Manager for the Ghana Country Office, a position she held from 2010 to 2016. There, she managed a $1 billion portfolio of complex lending and non-lending operations, which produced impactful and sustainable results. Notably, she led the team that originated and financed the landmark Accra Pokuase Interchange, the first four-tier interchange in West Africa.
In 2016, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina appointed Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade as Deputy Managing Director of Development and Service Delivery for West Africa, and she became the Managing Director in 2018.
