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BIRAMA BOUBACAR SIDIBE, MALI

Sidibe, 62, a national of Mali, is the vice president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) since January 1, 2009, where he oversees the work of several departments dealing with the IDB operations in the bank’s member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries.

Prior to joining the bank, he was managing director of Shelter Afrique, the Regional Housing Finance Institution, in Nairobi, Kenya. Before Shelter Afrique, he worked for the AfDB for 23 years and held various technical and managerial positions covering operational as well as corporate areas of the institution.

He obtained his Engineering degree from the Ecole National du Genie Rural des Eaux et Forets, Paris, France, and Master of Sciences in Water and Sanitation from the University of Montpellier, France.

He has extensive experience and fairly long exposure to development issues and challenges. He was the director of general services and procurement of AfDB and serves as director of country operations, African Development Fund, a department within the bank.

For Sidibé, a development finance institution must have a sound financial position and a great ability to mobilize the necessary resources to carry out its missions. The Malian is hailed for his innovations in the field of financial engineering.