Back in 2006, Todd Moss and Dennis de Tray led a small CGD working group that produced an admirably short and clear report on the future direction of the African Development Bank. It contained six recommendations including a heavy emphasis on infrastructure, and I count it as one of our most important reports; it echoed the recently appointed AfDB President Donald Kaberuka’s own instincts for change, and we like to think it helped him bring his shareholders and senior managers along in strengthening the new directions in which he subsequently took the bank.
Fast forward almost ten years: the AfDB is now widely seen as Africa’s top financial and technical institution serving the continent, Donald Kaberuka is an old friend of CGD, and I’m delighted that he is joining CGD as a distinguished visiting fellow, having recently completed two extraordinarily successful terms as AfDB president.
Kaberuka is currently a Hauser Leader-in-Residence at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. At CGD he will be working on finance and development issues, including serving as a member of our High-Level Panel on Multilateral Banking, which will issue its report in the coming months.
At our 10th anniversary celebration in 2011, we awarded Kaberuka the Edward W. Scott Jr. Equity Award for distinguished service in the interests of the world’s most vulnerable people (perhaps we sensed back then what a friend he would become). Kaberuka joined the CGD board this year.
Hear Kaberuka’s thoughts on his presidency and his future work in a new CGD podcast. And look out for a whole series of events this year to mark CGD’s 15th anniversary!
Disclaimer
CGD blog posts reflect the views of the authors, drawing on prior research and experience in their areas of expertise. CGD is a nonpartisan, independent organization and does not take institutional positions.
