Executive Director for Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and India

Executive Director in the African Development Bank Representing Denmark, Finland, India, Norway and Sweden, since July 2013. Before that and since 2009 he was Deputy Director-General, Department of Africa and Middle East, MF of Finland. Between 2005 and 2009, Mr. Tuunanen served Ambassador of Finland to the Republic of South Africa ( accredited to Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Swasiland, Permanent Representative to SADC) After he was Ambassador of Finland to the Kingdom of Thailand (accredited to Kambodza, Laos, Myanmar; Mekong River Commission). From 1998-2000, He was Director-General, Division of Africa and Middle East, MFA. 1996-1998 and Deputy Director-General, Department of Development Co-operation, MFA. From 1991-1996 Director, Development Policies, Department of Development Co-operation, MFA. Mr. Tuunanen was Charge d'Affaires a.i., Embassy of Finland, Harare from 1987-1991 and Director, Country Programming (bilateral aid), Department of Development Co-operation, MFA, from1984 to1987. He served also as Second Secretary, Embassy of Finland, Nairobi, 1980-1984 and Second Secretary, Legal Affairs, Department of Development Co-operation, MFA, 1975-1980 ED Tuuanen holds Master of Law from University of Helsinki (1974)

Danish advisor to the Executive Director representing the Nordic-India constituency in AfDB's Board of Directors

Birthe Elisabeth LARSEN, is currently the Danish advisor to the Executive Director representing the Nordic-India constituency in AfDB's Board of Directors. She joined the Executive Director's Office in Abidjan in September 2014 for a 3-year period. She has long term experience in international cooperation working in the field of administration of development activities. She has solid knowledge and work experiences in the field of public financial management and organizational development. She started her career in Zambia working at the country office of the Danish Volunteer Service in Lusaka after which she joined the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the field of financial management. She has been posted to a number of Danish embassies in Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and last, prior to joining AfDB, a four-year posting to Ethiopia where she was task manager for the Danish Africa Programme for Peace managing the Danish support to African Union, ECOWAS and IGAD. She has extensive experience in donor coordination. In 2009 she was seconded by the Danish Government to AfDB for one year, as part of the Danish team working together with AfDB for setting up the African Guarantee Fund. She holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master in Public Administration and Management.

Director of the Resource Mobilization and External Finance Department of the African Development Bank

Désiré has been with the African Development Bank since August 2005. He is Director of the Resource Mobilization and External Finance Department which oversees the African Development Fund, partnerships, trust funds, and co-financing. Désiré also served as Director of the Operational Policies Department, and Director of the Research Department of the African Development Bank. Prior to joining the Bank, Désiré was Professor of Economics at HEC Montréal, Université de Montréal, Canada. Désiré holds a Ph.D. in Economics (Queen's University, Canada) and a Magistère Ingénieur-Economiste (Université d'Aix-Marseille II, France). He is a resource person for the African Economic Research Consortium. Desire is a citizen of Mauritius.

Principal Cooperation Officer, Resource Mobilization and External Finance Department, FRMB

Ms. Veronica Giardina works in the Resource Mobilization and External Finance Department (FRMB) of the African Development Bank and is a member of the team that is in charge of monitoring and replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF), resource mobilization and management of technical cooperation trust funds and programmes, co-financing, as well as partnerships with sovereign actors. She has experience in fundraising, negotiations and building various forms of institutional partnerships and cooperation arrangements with external partners as well as strategic planning. Before joining the Bank, Ms. Giardina worked with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) where she managed the resource mobilisation, developed relationships with donors and international partners; coordinated the development and implementation of the Strategic Plan; planned and designed new projects; and managed regional/country specific programs on health including rights in the Arab Region. She also worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the legal aspects of access to water and water rights for project formulation purposes. Before then, she worked with the Directorate General for the Italian International Cooperation of the Ministry of External Affairs (DGCS). In this capacity, she was responsible for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects funded by the Italian Government. She also participated at coordination meetings with donors and partners.

Manager, Strategies and Operational Policies Department, COSP

Nationality: Senegalese
Joined the Bank: April 2000
At the Bank: Massamba DIENE is a manager in the Strategy and Operational Policies Department. In addition to assisting the Director in the preparation and implementation of the Department's work program, Massamba is also involved as professional in the preparation of most operational policies, strategies and guidelines. As Division Manager, Policy, he has led a major policy development exercise following GCI-VI and ADF-12, including policies on Disclosure and Access to Information, Program-based Operations (PBO), Energy Sector, Private Sector Development and Strategies in Urban Development and ICT.
Background:A Civil Engineer by training, Massamba also holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Laval University, Quebec, Canada (1989). He has also benefitted from during a 2-year post-grade research fellowship in Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. In his career, Massamba has worked in different capacities and areas, including as division manager in charge of health infrastructure development, professor of civil engineering at Ecole Polytechnique de Thiès, Senegal (courses taught: Mechanics of Materials, Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering, Road Construction, etc.), Technical Director of the World Bank –AFD financed Urban Decentralization and Development Program (UDDP). Massamba joined the Bank in 2000, as Principal Transport Engineer in the Support to Operations Division, and has since then worked at different levels in Policy, Quality Assurance and Results, Environmental and Social Safeguards, before being appointed Division Manager, Policy in 2009.

Senior Water and Sanitation Engineer, GHFO, Water and Sanitation Department, OWAS

Rees Mwasambili is currently Senior Water and Sanitation Engineer working in the West and Central Division, Department of Water and Sanitation, of the African Development Bank. He joined the Bank in 2010. His major current brief includes development and management of the Bank's water and sanitation portfolio in Ghana, Liberia and the Gambia. His work experience spans the private, public sector and the civil Society sectors. He has previous experience working on water sector policy/institutional reforms in Zambia and in the Southern African Region in developing regional water policy and IWRM strategy and roadmap and, project and program design and development in water and sanitation. He has also worked in water services utility regulation. His other international experience includes program developments and project reviews in East and Northern Africa.

Principal Health Analyst, Human Development Department, OSHD

Maimouna Diop Ly, a medical doctor specialized in Public Health, nutrition and management with more than 20 years of work experience in the public health sector has spent the last 20 years leading programmes to address Nutrition, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, Neglected Tropical diseases, child survival programmes. She is currently a health analyst at the African Development Bank working on health and nutrition. She has led programmes at national and international level in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Cote d'Ivoire, as well as the Sahel region and the Horn of Africa. Prior to the Bank she worked in a community nutrition programme in Senegal funded by the World Bank. She also served as Deputy Head of the National Nutrition service at the Ministry of Health in Senegal and as a Head of the Health Department at the Senegalese Red cross position funded by the Danish Red Cross. She hold a medical degree as a physician from the University of Dakar, a DEA in public health from University of Paris VI, France, a post graduate degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from University of Rennes, France and a post graduate degree in Tropical medicine and parasitology form University of Paris VI, France.

Principal Procurement Specialist, in the Procurement and Fiduciary Services Department of the African Development Bank

Valerie joined the AfDB in December 2013 in Procurement operations support and she joined the Department Policy team in January 2015 where she covers legal aspects of procurement. She initiated her career working in international cooperation in Paris for five years and joined the Inter-American Development Bank in 2001 as Procurement Specialist in the Modernization of the State Division in Washington DC and further worked as Team Leader for CARICOM, supporting the CARICOM Common Single Market Economy in Procurement. She has an extended short-term consultancy experience with the WB in procurement, public sector management and long-term field experience implementing Donors funded procurement reform, one year in Tirana, Albania (EU funded) and 30 months in Kabul, Afghanistan (WB funded). In 2009 she joined the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) as Procurement Expert in charge of procurement related projects and was promoted was Lead Legal Expert managing Institutional and Good Governance Programs heading the procurement, land law, Justice and public sector reform.

Senior Financial Analyst, Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department, ONEC

Djamali Ibrahime has a Master in Business and Management from the University of Paris Dauphine. He is an experienced professional in financial management acquired over years of practicing in banking and in international organizations. He joined the AfDB in 2012 as Financial Analyst in the energy sector where he has been involved in projects mainly in western African countries. He is also task manager of the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) in Liberia, Benin, Ghana and Madagascar.

Senior Transport Economist, Transport &ITC Department, OITC

Transport Economist/Planner
Masters in Transport Economics, University of Leeds, UK
Masters in Economic Policy and Planning, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Currently works as a Senior Transport Economist, in the Transport and ICT Department of the African Development Bank (June 2011 to date). He is responsible for identification, appraisal, management, monitoring and evaluation of transport sector projects and programmes covering all modes of transport in Africa.
Prior to joining African Development Bank, he worked as a Transport Economist, Uganda National Roads Authority.; Principal Transport Economist, Ministry of Works and Transport, and Principal Economist, Ministry of Local Government in Uganda.
Has over 20 years of experience in Transport (Infrastructure & Services) Project Preparation, Implementation, Management and Financing gained as a result of working as a Transport Economist/ Planner, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist of projects/programmes (mainly transport infrastructure and ICT) funded by multilateral and bilateral development agencies that include: AfDB, World Bank, EU, DANIDA, JICA and IFAD.
25 years of un-interrupted professional experience working with international organizations, Development Partners, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, National and Local Governments, at policy, strategic and operational levels.
Speaker at the Annual African Roads Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa, 2009-2011.
His Areas of Professional Interest are: Regional Transport Networks, Urban Transport, Transport and Poverty linkages, Transport Sector Institutional Reforms, and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in Transport