In a bid to address the COVID-19 pandemic, advance policy reforms, and support African countries growth recovery efforts from the pandemic, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has announced the appointment of Dr. Rabah Arezki as Chief Economist and Vice President, Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, with effect from October 1, 2020.
Arezki, who is an Algerian citizen, is currently the Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa Region at the World Bank, a role he has held since 2017.
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Before his latest appointment, he started his career at the IMF as an Economist and became the Chief of the Commodities and Environment Unit in the Research Department. He provided leadership on the IMF’s rapid response to the historical collapse in oil prices that started in 2014. He advised authorities all around the world on risk mitigation policies.
Reacting to his appointment, Arezki said, “The African Development Bank is making excellent progress in accelerating Africa’s development. I am excited about the opportunity to work with President Akinwunmi Adesina and the Bank’s leadership and teams to further provide top-notch policy, knowledge, and capacity-building support for African countries” he enthused.
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On his part, the President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina expressed his delight at the prospect of Arezki joining the African Development Bank Group following an impactful career at the World Bank and the IMF.
“His leadership will be especially important as the Bank designs and deploys policy-based operations to address COVID-19, advances policy reforms, and supports African countries’ growth recovery efforts from the pandemic,” Adesina said.
Dr. Arezki is a senior fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, an external Research Associate at the Oxford University, UK, a research fellow at the CESifo, a global independent research network. Dr. Arezki is also a resource person for the African Economic Research Consortium and a Research Fellow at the Economic Research Forum. He has been a non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institute, USA.
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He has published extensively both in top academic journals and policy-oriented outlets and is a co-editor and co-author of five books including Shifting Commodity Markets in a Globalized World. Many of his research papers have been cited extensively in academic circles and prominent media outlets.
