Memorial Lecture Profiles

Mr. Abebe Aemro Selassie is the Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a position he has held since 2016. In this capacity, Mr. Selassie oversees the IMF’s operations and engagement with 45 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. His responsibilities also include building strategic partnerships and dialogue with senior policymakers and institutions across the region.

Before taking up his current position, Mr. Selassie held various senior positions in the IMF, including Deputy Director in the African Department, Mission Chief for Portugal and South Africa, Division Chief of the African Department’s Regional Studies Division, and the IMF’s Senior Resident Representative in Uganda. Earlier in his career, he worked on the Fund’s lending programs with Turkey, Thailand, Romania, and Estonia as well as being deeply involved in policy, operational review, and economic research work.

Before joining the IMF in 1994, he worked for the Ethiopian Government as a Principal Economist in the Office of the President as well as the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, specializing in sovereign credit risk issues.

Dr. Donald Kaberuka is currently the Board Chair of The Global Fund as well as the African Union High Representative for the Peace Fund. He is also the Chairman and Managing Partner of SouthBridge, a Pan-African financial advisory and investment firm with offices in Abidjan, Kigali, Paris and London.

Previously, Dr. Kaberuka served as the 7th President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) from 2005 to 2015, in which he is credited with the expansion of their reach and impact. During his two terms as President, Dr. Kaberuka led from the front on infrastructure, promoted private sector development and economic integration. The Bank played a major countercyclical role during the 2008 financial crisis to enable African countries in weathering the crisis.

Prior to joining AfDB, Dr. Kaberuka served as Rwanda's Minister of Finance and Economic Planning from 1997 to 2005.

Dr. Patrick Njoroge is the ninth Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and has been in office since June 2015. He has overseen a significant overhaul of the banking system in Kenya, including the launch of the first Kenya Banking Sector Charter. Dr. Njoroge has been keen on facilitating the growth of the Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprise sector, which has been the engine of growth of the Kenyan economy.

Dr. Njoroge joined CBK after a twenty-year career at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, DC. Prior to his appointment as Governor, Dr. Njoroge was Advisor to the IMF Deputy Managing Director from December 2012. He also served as Deputy Division Chief in the IMF’s Finance Department from 2006 to 2012, and IMF’s Mission Chief for the Commonwealth of Dominica from 2005 to 2006. He also served at the IMF and in other capacities between 1995 and 2005.

Prior to joining the IMF, Dr. Njoroge served as an Economist at the Kenyan Ministry of Finance.