Dalberg Advisors, a subsidiary of strategy and policy consultancy Dalberg Group, announced on 2 October the appointment of Lillian Kidane as its new Regional Director for Africa.
Dalberg Advisors is a strategy consultancy that works with the public, private and philanthropic sectors. Dalberg Advisors has over 550 employees in more than 25 locations in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe and the United States.
Dalberg Advisors is part of the Dalberg Group, which comprises six companies – Dalberg Advisors, Dalberg Data Insights, Dalberg Design, Dalberg Implement, Dalberg Media and Dalberg Research – and the not-for-profit organisation Dalberg Catalyst.
Dalberg Advisors began operations in Africa in 2007 in South Africa and rapidly expanded into West and East Africa, covering over 1,100 engagements across the continent, working with a range of stakeholders including community organisations, local and global not-for-profit organisations, investors, foundations, corporates, regional bodies and various government departments.
Diverse experience
Prior to her appointment, Lillian Kidane was an Associate Partner in the Addis Ababa office of Dalberg Advisors, where she advised on sustainable business strategies for emerging markets and operational efficiency. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in global health, trade and industrialisation policy, job creation policy, inclusive business models, climate policy, access to finance and digital transformation across Africa and the Caribbean.
Lillian Kidane joined Dalberg in 2018 in Ethiopia. She has worked with social sector organisations, with governments, corporates, private foundations, multilaterals and NGOs. Among her recent achievements, Lillian Kidane was Senior Advisor to the leadership of the COVID Vaccine Delivery Partnership (CoVDP) in Geneva, responsible for overseeing the allocation and disbursement of vaccines in 34 countries worldwide during the pandemic years. She has also worked with the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry to reorganise its industrialisation policy to ensure rapid and steady growth that is inclusive and equitable for the country.
In addition, she recently helped the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology develop the country’s first-ever digital transformation roadmap to support Ethiopia’s ambitious goal of achieving lower-middle income country status by 2025.
She also advised the Ethiopia Ministry of Health and other key stakeholders on an innovative public-private partnership that would bring to the continent and to Ethiopia its first industrial-scale manufacturing for essential technologies around maternal and child health.
Gaurav Gupta, Global Managing Partner of Dalberg Advisors, said: “Lillian’s appointment marks an important milestone in Dalberg’s commitment to Africa. Her extensive experience across the continent in public health systems, climate, trade and digital transformation will be invaluable in helping to shape the continent’s development trajectory.”
Lillian Kidane, Partner and Africa Regional Director, Dalberg Advisors, said, “Dalberg has a remarkable history of working with partners to make a positive difference, and I look forward in my new role as Regional Director to deepening our collaborations with change-makers so that we can play a greater role together in shaping sustainable development on the African continent.”
Overseeing GE’s investments
Prior to joining Dalberg, Lillian Kidane held senior positions at General Electric (GE), where she held leadership roles at regional level in Africa as well as at country level, having opened and managed GE’s first direct sales office in Ethiopia. She oversaw GE’s investments in Africa, including technology training, skills development and innovations in local workforce qualification, as well as the integration of skills into GE’s global healthcare supply chain. During her leadership of General Electric’s $4B endowment- Healthyimagination© Africa sub-portfolio, she led a team of researchers tasked to advance the company’s innovation-related investments in Africa for Africa.
She has also worked at the Clinton Foundation. She began her professional career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, providing health training and clinical services to women and children in a small town where she discovered her passion for vocational education.
Liliane Kidane sits on a number of global and local boards, including Labor Mobility Partnerships, a not-for-profit organisation that develops scalable solutions to enable workers to access quality jobs across borders.
Lillian Kidane holds a postgraduate degree in International Healthcare Management from Yale University School of Medicine. She also holds a Master of Public Health in Health Economics and Informatics from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (USA) and an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame (USA).
Lillian Kidane is of Eritrean origin and lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with her husband and two sons.
She is a graduate of Yale University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
