Appointed on August 18, by the WAMU Council of Ministers on the favourable opinion of the WaEMU Conference of Heads of State and Government, Mr. Serge EKUE, the new President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), officially took office at the headquarters of the Institution in Lomé (Togo) this Friday, August 28, 2020 at the end of a handover ceremony with Mr. Christian ADOVELANDE outgoing President, who has reached the end of his mandate.

Chaired by Mr. Sani YAYA, Togolese Minister of Economy and Finance and President of the Council of Ministers of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU), the ceremony was attended by Mr. Romuald WADAGNI, Minister of Economy and Finance of Benin and Mrs. Demba TIGNOKPA, Minister of Planning, Development and Cooperation of Togo.

Also present were Mr. Mamadou N'DIAYE, President of the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets (CREPMF), representatives of the Governor of the BCEAO and the President of the WAEMU Commission as well as directors of BOAD.

After 47 years of existence, including 9 years under the governance of President ADOVELANDE, BOAD is today one of the first community institutions for financing development in Africa.

To date, it totals more than 1200 projects financed in WAEMU member countries, for 6,235.8 billion CFA francs, of which 73.5% or 4,582 billion CFA francs for the public sector and 26.5% or 1,653 billion CFA francs for the private sector. These loans have made it possible to drain into the region, thanks to co-financing, resources totalling about 14,000 billion CFA francs, i.e. a leverage effect of 2.3.

Taking the floor, President Christian ADOVELANDE thus considered "that his mission was accomplished and that the circle was completed after forty-two years spent at BOAD where he began his professional career in April 1978".

In his address, President Serge EKUE, the new President of BOAD, expressed his sincere thanks to the WAEMU Heads of State for his appointment to the high office of President of the Institution and warmly congratulated his predecessor for the performance achieved under his governance.

Addressing the former President, he reassured him about the future of the Bank: "The Institution that you have helped to develop will continue to prosper with the opening of a new chapter in its history in accordance with the wishes of our founding fathers expressed on November 14, 1973 in Dakar."

Minister Sani YAYA, President of the WAMU Council of Ministers, noted that under the mandate of President ADOVELANDE, BOAD has fulfilled more than two-thirds (2/3) of its commitments since its creation. The number of operations financed increased significantly from an annual average of 21 operations before 2011 to more than 53 operations on average per year between 2011 and 2019.

Congratulating him on behalf of all the members of the Council he chairs, he closed the ceremony by extending his warm congratulations and best wishes to President Serge EKUE, and reaffirmed the support and confidence of States in their Common institution.

As a reminder, Serge EKUE has been managing Natixis' Corporate and Investment Banking (IFB) activities for the United Kingdom in London since 2016. He combined this responsibility with that of Marche Solutions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Serge Ekue was also responsible for natixis' Africa and Russia Departments. He holds the Executive MBA from HEC Paris, the DESS Banques-Finances from Paris V, the diploma from the Institute of Political Studies of Bordeaux and with a solid international experience that he has just taken up as President of BOAD.

About the West African Development Bank

The West African Development Bank (BOAD) is the joint development finance institution of the States of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU). A public institution of an international character, BOAD's purpose is, under Article 2 of its statutes, "to promote the balanced development of member states and to achieve the economic integration of West Africa" by financing priority development projects. It is accredited by the three climate finance financing mechanisms (GEF, AF, GCF).

Since 2009, BOAD has sat as an observer on the UNFCCC and actively participates in discussions on building an international climate finance architecture. Since January 2013, it has hosted the first Regional Collaborating Centre (RCC) on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which aims to provide direct support to governments, NGOs and the private sector for the identification and development of CDM projects.

It is committed to carbon neutrality by 2023 and is an active member of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) which brings together 24 national, regional and bilateral development banks.