A national of Côte d’Ivoire, he was previously the World Bank’s Country Director for the Republic of Türkiye. He replaces Junaid Kamal Ahmad who recently completed a five-year term.
India is the World Bank Group’s largest client with a portfolio that includes lending of $3.98 billion from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and $83 million (or 0.08 billion) from the International Development Association (IDA) last fiscal (July 2021-June 2022). As of July 2022, the Bank’s net commitments to the country stood at $21.86 billion (IBRD $18.76 billion, IDA $3.0 billion) across 99 projects.
Auguste Tano Kouamé said: “The World Bank has had the privilege of supporting India’s development achievements for more than 75 years. I look forward to continuing this fruitful partnership at this critical time, as the country recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to build a more resilient future. The Bank stands ready, through strategic programs and knowledge products, to support India’s ambitions of becoming an upper middle-income country and a global leader on the Climate agenda. As India takes over the Presidency of the G20 later this year, the Bank, globally, looks forward to supporting India in this leadership role.”
Independent Evaluation Group
As the World Bank’s Country Director for the Republic of Türkiye, Auguste Tano Kouamé led the expansion of the Bank’s country program and deepened its support to Türkiye’s climate agenda.
Prior to taking this role in May 2019, Auguste Tano Kouamé was Director of the department of Human Development and Economic Management at the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank Group from January 2017 to April 2019. He oversaw independent evaluations in economic management and country programs as well as independent evaluations in human development and corporate strategies.
Prior to joining IEG, Auguste Tano Kouamé had consecutively been Practice Manager for Middle East and North America and Practice Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean countries in the Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Global Practice of the World Bank from 2014 to 2017.
From 2008 to 2014, Auguste Tano Kouamé held the positions of Sector Manager for Economic Policy, Sector Leader, and Lead Economist in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit and served as acting Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region. From 2005 to 2008, he held the position of Assistant to the World Bank Group President.
Field assignments
Prior to this corporate-level assignment, Auguste Tano Kouamé took field assignments from 2002-05 as Senior Country Economist, based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and, subsequently, as World Bank representative in Haiti. He was a core team member of the World Bank’s 1998/99 World Development Report on Knowledge for Development.
Prior to joining the World Bank as a Young Professional in 1996, Auguste Tano Kouamé worked at the United Nations Development Program and taught Applied Economics in Côte d’Ivoire and France.
Auguste Tano Kouamé holds a graduate degree in applied economics from ENSAE-Paris and a PhD in economics from EHESS-Paris. He also attended a program in Economic Management at Harvard University.
