The Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development at the African Development Bank, Dr Jennifer Blanke, resigned her position on Wednesday, 10th of June.

The former Vice President who joined the bank in 2017, said she is leaving purely for family reasons to rejoin her family in Switzerland, after a very fulfilling 3 years of service. She admitted that she would miss the bank and the excellent team she helped to build. Furthermore, she promised to strongly support the bank from wherever she finds herself.

Blanke expressed her thanks to President Akinwumi Adesina for his strong leadership, guidance, and support. In turn, President Adesina voiced his delight to have worked with Blanke for the last three and a half years, wished her all the best and looks forward to a continued partnership with her. During her time with the bank, Dr Blanke was responsible for strategy and activities in the area. Importantly, she has written and lectured extensively on issues related to national competitiveness, economic growth and development, and political economy.

Brief Profile:

• Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University;
• Master’s and PhD in International Economics, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva.
• Vice President Agriculture, Human and Social Development at the African Development Bank Group,
• Former Chief Economist at the World Economic Forum, 2012-2017.
• Senior Programme Manager, responsible for developing the business, management and technology section of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, 1998-2002; with the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network, 2002-2011, including team head, 2007-14.
• Management Consultant, Eurogroup, Mazars Group, Paris, specializing in banking and financial market organization, 1995-1998.
• Member of the Canadian government’s Council of Economic Growth and holding a number of non-executive board responsibilities.