The African Development Bank has announced the appointment of Simon Mizrahi as acting Director, Communication and External Relations Department, effective 16 December 2020.
Mizrahi is a Briton who joined the bank on 10 May 2009, as head of Results Management Division. Before joining AfDB, he worked for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, based in France, as senior policy adviser, Aid Effectiveness Division (2001-2007) and as deputy head, Aid Effectiveness (2007-2009).
As deputy head at the OECD in charge of aid effectiveness, he authored the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action—two landmark agreements adopted by 110 countries and organisations across the world.
Prior to this, Mizrahi worked as director, International Development Consultancy Services (1996-2001) and as a country director for Médecins du Monde, Kigali (Rwanda) and Managua (Nicaragua), from 1994 to 1996.
He is currently the director for Delivery, Performance Management and Results. In this capacity, he oversees the delivery of results on the bank’s $10bn annual investments across Africa and engages with AfDB’s board of directors and donors on “the full complexity of the bank’s development challenges.”
Commenting on his appointment, AfDB’s President, Akinwumi Adesina, said, “I am pleased that Simon has stepped into this role to provide strong leadership and support for the department until a substantive director is appointed. He is known for delivering results and building effective partnerships and networks to effectively communicate and advance the work of the bank.”
