Abidjan, Ivory Coast - The African Development Bank Group has appointed Kennedy K. Mbekeani as director general for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, and country manager for Kenya.
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Dr. Mbekeani, a citizen of Malawi has over 25 years of senior experience in development finance, project management, policy advisory services, and knowledge generation at national and regional levels.
Prior to this appointment, he served as deputy director general for the Bank’s Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office.
In this role he led the Bank’s business development and delivery for sovereign and non-sovereign investments, and provided advisory services to South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and Mauritius.
His efforts contributed to the Bank’s reputation as a trusted partner for high impact development projects in the region. He also managed relationships with governments and the private sector.
Dr. Mbekeani joined the Bank in 2009 as Chief Trade and Regional Integration Officer.
Subsequently he has held various roles including lead regional economist, officer in charge and acting regional director respectively of the Bank’s South African Resource Centre.
While serving as country manager for Uganda, he successfully expanded the Bank’s portfolio to over $2 billion.
Before joining the Bank, Dr. Mbekeani worked for the United Nations Development Programme as a trade, debt and globalisation advisor for East and Southern Africa.
He also served as senior research fellow at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis, and senior economist at the National Institute for Economic Policy in South Africa.
He holds a Bachelor of Social Science (Economics and Statistics) degree from the University of Malawi, an MPhil in Monetary Economics from the University of Glasgow, and both an MA and PhD in International Economics from the University of California. ■
A trailing cold front in connection with a low pressure system currently moving east across the Great Lakes toward New England will bring a chance of rain into the eastern U.S. on this first day of November following an exceptionally dry October for this part of the country.