IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop to Visit Kenya

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NAIROBI, Kenya, November 2, 2022 - IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop will visit Kenya from November 4 to November 5 to meet with the new government and discuss how to strengthen the private sector's role in boosting food security and furthering the country's green transition.

Before traveling to Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, to participate in COP27, Mr. Diop will hold talks with President William Ruto, as well as with key private sector partners. During his meetings, Mr. Diop will reiterate IFC's support to building a more sustainable and productive agriculture sector. This will include deploying the recently launched $6 billion Global Food Security Platform to help stabilize volatile food markets, bolster supply chains, and ensure people have access to affordable food. Africa will be a key focus of this new funding initiative.

Mr. Diop will also stress the urgency of mobilizing more capital and private sector participation to support the green development agenda and  help countries like Kenya adapt to climate change and mitigate future effects of their economic activities while also creating jobs.

Kenya's recovery from the COVID-19 crisis is confronting rising inflation, disrupted supply chains, severe drought, and heightened food insecurity. The private sector can support Kenya to help tackle these new challenges and create more opportunities for the country's young population.

IFC is committed to growing its investment portfolio in Kenya, which currently stands at $1.14 billion across a number of key sectors including manufacturing, agribusiness, financial services, infrastructure, and technology.

WHO:               Makhtar Diop, Managing Director, IFC | @Diop_IFC
WHEN:              Friday, November 4, 2022 – Saturday, November 5, 2022                   
WHERE:           Nairobi, Kenya

For media requests, please contact: In Nairobi: Kristina Nwazota | knwazota@ifc.org | +254 (0) 793 263 740

About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2022, IFC committed a record $32.8 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

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Makhtar Diop

Makhtar Diop is IFC's Managing Director. He assumed this position on March 1, 2021. Prior to this appointment, he was the World Bank's Vice President for Infrastructure, where he led the Bank's global efforts to build sustainable infrastructure in developing and emerging economies. In this role, he oversaw the Bank's critical work in energy, transport, digital infrastructure, and public-private partnerships.

Prior to this, Mr. Diop served for six years as the World Bank's Vice President for Africa, where he oversaw the delivery of a record-breaking USD$70 billion to Sub-Saharan Africa to help tackle development challenges such as increasing access to energy; boosting women's and youth's economic empowerment; and promoting an enabling environment for more innovation and technology adoption. A passionate advocate for Africa's right to clean and affordable electricity, he also called for greater investment in renewable energy and pushed for stronger regional interconnectivity in the power and transport sectors. He previously served as World Bank Director for Finance, Private Sector & Infrastructure in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region; Country Director for Brazil, where he helped finance major infrastructure work; and Country Director for Kenya, Eritrea, and Somalia.

Mr. Diop brings to the post a deep level of experience and understanding of development challenges and a firm grasp of the public/private sector interface. His main priorities will be to mobilize investments in the poorest and most fragile countries and create the conditions for a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable recovery. In addition to his international organization experience, Mr. Diop, an economist by training who started his career in the banking industry before joining the IMF and later the World Bank, has extensive private sector experience. He has also held government positions, most notably as Minister of Economy and Finance of Senegal, where he played a key role in instituting structural reforms that helped build a strong foundation for Senegal's growth in the late 1980s.

A recognized opinion leader in the economic and social development field, Makhtar Diop has been named one of the 100 most influential Africans in the world. In 2015, he received the prestigious Regents' Lectureship Award from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mr. Diop holds degrees in economics from the Universities of Warwick and Nottingham in England.