He premised his conviction on the need to make free movement of goods and services within the continent as easy as it is in the European Union
DR Donald Kaberuka, Special Envoy to Mobilize International Economic Support for Continental Fight Against COVID-19 since 2020, must be glad he is doing pretty much what he has been engaged in all his professional career: raising and deploying resources for economic well-being and the development of mankind at large.
Between 2005 and 2015, the Rwandan economist was President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the continent’s premier multilateral development finance institution. There, he perhaps, made his most memorable contributions to Africa. Notable among the transformative initiatives he achieved was the strengthening of AfDB’s capacity to assist post-conflict countries. In the process, Kaberuka brought the plight of governments and people living in war-ravaged countries to the mainstream of global financial discourse.
Incidentally, Dr Kaberuka, in his earlier job, was Finance and National Planning Minister of Rwanda, which had just survived a brutal internecine conflict and could pull on his considerable experience to design the post-conflict countries’ facility for purpose. Dr Kaberuka also redirected the Bank’s focus to the private sector, which economists were then acclaiming as the true engine of development. He did this without downplaying the crucial role of bridging Africa’s crippling infrastructure gap, particularly at the regional level. Always a team player, he worked in concert with the African Union (AU), which had just inaugurated the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Truth be told, Africa’s premier development Bank has had its own fair share of the very good, the good and even ugly leaders. Happily, Dr. Kaberuka, by general consensus, is one of the best of the best two of AfDB Presidents. Indeed, under him, the AfDB sustained its triple A rating on the score cards of all credible global rating agencies. Like most Rwandans, his style is simple and straight forward: What you see is what you get. His word is his bond. And as AfDB president, he did not beat about the bush. He did not hog the lime light. His prime focus was on results –quality and productive results.
If Mr. Babacar Ndiaye transformed AfDB into a truly pan-Africa bank and Mr. Omar Kabbaji, through sterling infusion of discipline, consolidated that effort, it is apt to state that Dr. Donald Kaberuka took the pan-African bank to the world. Under him, AfDB became Africa’s iconic development agent.
Certainly, one of his enduring legacies at the AfDB is his frontal commitment to Africa’s full integration, especially at the social and economic levels. He prioritized pan-continental infrastructure and led the Bank to devote resources to projects intended to facilitate intra-African trade. He premised his conviction on the need to make free movement of goods and services within the continent as easy as it is in the European Union. Today, Dr Kaberuka can rest easy, knowing that his innermost wish has blossomed with the inauguration of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Imbued with the pure humanistic ideals he exhibited as Rwanda’s highly effective post-conflict economic manager and fiscal policy chief, Dr. Kaberuka raised the bar of gender mainstreaming at the AfDB. He worked to place more women than he met in positions of authority. Moreso, African leaders particularly lauded his efforts at significantly increasing the number of AfDB country offices to ensure an equitable spread across the continent. Most notably, in 2008, when the global financial crisis caught many African countries flat-footed, Dr Kaberuka led the bank to play a counter-cyclical role by funneling and fast-disbursing funds to the most vulnerable economies. He believed that no African country should be left behind. Indeed, his tenure was one of an enduring legacy of pan-African inclusion.
It is no surprise, therefore, that he was appointed Africa Union High Representative for the Peace Fund and Board Chair of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and at the global level, Co-Chair of the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement in 2019. Nor is it strange that he also serves on the boards of such internationally-rated organizations as the Rockefeller Centre and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
