Celebrating My First Year as Regional Director for Eastern Africa ???

Last month, I celebrated my first year as Director for Eastern Africa at IFC - International Finance Corporation . This past year has been nothing short of inspiring. We hit important impact milestones in our work across Africa, and on a personal note, I had the opportunity to work with amazing colleagues and partners.

The future is Africa and the work and engagements from my first year at the helm of Eastern Africa only reaffirmed this belief. I saw firsthand how innovation isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a reality. Entrepreneurs and young people are reshaping the continent’s future.

From IFC’s own investments in innovative agriculture insurance and technology company PULA , which is supporting small-scale farmers, to investments in Tanzania’s first green and sustainable bonds issued by CRDB BANK PLC and NMB Bank Plc , we are supporting partners to build greener, create jobs and foster resilience.

I am proud that across Eastern Africa, our investment and advisory work is expanding access to affordable housing in #Kenya, boosting SME lending in #Burundi and trade finance in #Ethiopia, strengthening digital connectivity across the #DRC, #Rwanda and #Uganda, growing agriculture resilience in #Malawi and expanding local currency financing in #Zambia, to name just a few more areas where we are having an impact.

It was also a significant year for events in Eastern Africa from leading IFC’s delegation at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi to hosting the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali. I also had the pleasure of hosting a group of leading voices in Kenya’s creative industries and I look forward to expanding on those discussions this year.

My first year has been an extraordinary chapter of impact and innovation. As I look ahead to another year, I am committed to deepening our impact, broadening our reach, and nurturing partnerships that will propel us forward.

IFC's work in Eastern Africa shows how collaboration can bring about significant benefits for the region's economies and its people. We have so much more to do, and I look forward to building new partnerships as we continue our meaningful work as One World Bank Group and making a difference in the years to come.

Projects That I have Been Inspired By:

--Enhancing the livelihoods of barley farmers in Ethiopia: https://wrld.bg/Naxe50PoXby

--Financing Tanzania’s "super women" #IDAWorks: wrld.bg/ozVA50Q282h

--The power of SME financing in the DRC: https://wrld.bg/Haim50Q5ilX

--Empowering refugees and host communities in Kenya: https://lnkd.in/da4bBhaG?

--Growing Malawi’s small-scale macadamia farmers: https://lnkd.in/dbqY88Jf

--Funding Rwanda’s green urban development one e-bike at a time: https://wrld.bg/RNQ450RzFpC

--Connecting small businesses to the digital economy: https://wrld.bg/OZPt50SgFfY

Sergio Pimenta Madalo Minofu Malick Fall Martine Valcin Paramita Dasgupta Amena Arif Senait Mekete Ayele Zano Mataruka Gillian Rogers Keith Hansen Qimiao Fan Nathan Belete Albert Zeufack Ivy Wanjiru Devon Maylie

#IFCImpact #SustainableDevelopment #ClimateAction #FinancialInclusion #DigitalAccess #Africa