Donald Kaberuka; 7th President of the African Development Bank Group and Chairman of the
Board of Directors (2005-2015). Special Envoy, African Union Peace Fund
The African Development Bank is Africa’s premier development Finance Institution. During his tenure as President Dr. Kaberuka significantly bolstered the franchise value of the Bank. Under his leadership the Bank tripled its capital from USD 30 billion to USD 100 billion and doubled the portfolio to USD 12 billion per annum.
Dr Kaberuka’s leadership was characterised by a "big push” on infrastructure which accounted for 60% of Bank activities, with total commitments of over USD 25 billion, in transport, energy, water, urban development and IT. Under his leadership the Bank led from the front on private sector and business development, with a focus on improving the investment climate and extending tailored support to business through a wide range of instruments. In ten years the Bank support to the private sector grew from USD 500 million to USD 2.8 billion per annum. He championed an inclusive growth agenda; promoting a strong link between security, development and environment, establishing a ring-fenced facility for conflict-affected countries. The African Development Bank played a major countercyclical role during the global financial crisis where the Bank, for the first time, became the largest lender to Africa providing up to USD 12 billion in liquidity, balance of payments, budget and other forms of support to help African countries weather the crisis.
Dr. Kaberuka also put in place an Africa Natural Resource Center and the African Legal Support Facility to enable African countries to more effectively manage natural resource wealth.
Prior to joining the African Development Bank, Dr Kaberuka was Finance Minister of Rwanda for eight years (1997-2005) leading the economic team within the Government of Rwanda. In that capacity he served as Governor for Rwanda for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Dr. Kaberuka is an alumnus of the University of Glasgow in Scotland and was Hauser Leader in Residence at Harvard Kennedy School. He currently serves on the Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the Centre for Global Development and is a Senior Adviser to the global Private Equity firm, TPG-Satya, promoting investment on the African Continent, also Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group. He is a member of several international panels on global finance and development issues. Early this year Dr Kaberuka was appointed as a Special Envoy of the African Union on sustainable Financing for the Union and funding for Peace in Africa.