World Bank Appoints New Country Director for Nigeria

Dr. Ndiamé Diop, the newly appointed World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, officially assumed his new role today, taking over from Shubham Chaudhuri who completed his term in the same position. Prior to his assignment in Abuja, Dr. Ndiamé Diop served as the World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand, with his office based in Manila.

During his tenure, he significantly increased the Bank’s financing to the Philippines to support key economic reforms and address disparities in various sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture. In Malaysia, he oversaw a knowledge program aimed at boosting the country’s economy through advanced economic analyses. Additionally, he played a key role in resuming World Bank investment lending in Thailand after a two-decade hiatus.

Dr. Ndiamé Diop expressed his enthusiasm for leading the World Bank’s program in Nigeria, highlighting the country’s potential for economic growth and development. He emphasized the importance of strengthening partnerships with the Nigerian government at both the Federal and State levels to provide quality technical and financial support for the country’s development priorities.

Dr. Ndiamé Diop also underscored Nigeria’s significance in the sub-region and reiterated the World Bank Group‘s commitment to collaborating with the government, development partners, and citizens to create a thriving economy and lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

Dr. Ndiamé Diop will assume a new role as the leader of the World Bank’s team in Nigeria, where he will work to enhance policy dialogue and collaboration with the government and key stakeholders. His responsibilities will include overseeing the provision and execution of both lending and non-lending support to Nigeria.

Dr. Diop has held various leadership positions within the World Bank, such as Head of the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment unit for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, based in Jakarta and Bangkok, Lead Economist for Indonesia, based in Jakarta, and Lead economist roles for Jordan and Lebanon, as well as Country Economist roles in the Middle East and North Africa. Notably, he served as the Bank’s Resident Representative for Tunisia between 2007 and 2010. He began his career at the World Bank in Washington DC in 2000 as a Young Professional.

As an economist, Dr. Ndiamé Diop has contributed to peer-reviewed Journals and books on topics such as fiscal policy and growth, monetary policy and inflation, macro policies and resilience to sudden stops in capital inflows, natural resource abundance, Dutch disease, and economic diversification.