The Executive Director of the Africa Group II at the World Bank Group Board of Directors, Mr. Abdoul Salam Bello of Niger, brings extensive experience in economic development, multilateral trade cooperation and diplomacy.
Mr. Bello served as Alternate Executive Director for Africa Group II (EDS13) from November 2020 to October 2022.
Prior to that, he was a Senior Project Officer at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), leading a land restoration programme in the Sahel. In addition, Mr. Bello was Advisor to the Executive Director of the Africa Group II at the World Bank Group from 2014 to 2019. He discharged that function during the negotiations process for the reform of the World Bank Group's safeguard policies, the Financing for Development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Between 2007 and 2014, he held a series of senior positions in multilateral institutions. They included Chief of Staff at the New Partnership for Africa's Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in South Africa, and Economist at the Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia. Prior to that, Mr. Bello worked in the private sector, including as Assistant Project Manager at Renault Headquarters in France in 2005.
Mr. Bello holds a Master’s Degree in International Risk Management from HEC Paris, France; a master’s degree in Management of International Activities from the University of Lyon; a Master’s Degree in Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiations from Paris-Sud University and an Engineer's Degree in Telecommunications from the University of Toulon, France. Mr. Bello also graduated from the Executive Education Program for Senior Managers in Government at Harvard Kennedy School, USA.
Mr. Bello is Senior Fellow at the Africa Center of the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C. and authored two books: Les Etats-Unis et l’Afrique, de l’esclavage à Obama (L’Harmattan, 2019) and La régionalisation en Afrique: Essai sur un processus d'intégration et de développement (L’Harmattan, 2017).