By Adedapo Adesanya
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced the appointment of Ms Yacine Fal to the position of Director-General, Cabinet Office of the President, effective November 1, 2020.
This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday, which noted that as Director-General, Ms FaI will oversee the administrative and operational work and activities of the Cabinet Office of the President.
Primarily, she will provide oversight of all units and departments directly reporting to the President. She will also ensure enhanced delivery efficiency and effectiveness for all presidential initiatives and bank operations, as per agreements with respective Vice Presidency Complexes.
In addition, she will oversee the work of senior staff to improve overall coordination and engagement of the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors with the Board.
Ms Fal, a Senegalese citizen, is a seasoned and results-oriented business development and service delivery professional with over 20 years of experience in banking, legal and procurement fields.
She joined the bank as a Principal Legal Counsel in the procurement unit (1998-2007) and subsequently served as Manager in charge of the reform implementation team in the office of the President (2007-2008).
She was appointed Officer in Charge of the Procurement and Fiduciary Services Department (2010-2011); and Manager of the Procurement Services Division (2008-2013). She later served as the Resident Representative of the bank’s Morocco Office (2014-2017).
In 2016, President of the bank, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, appointed her as the Deputy Director-General of the North Africa Business Development and Service Delivery Office.
Commenting on her appointment, Ms Fal said “I am greatly honoured by the confidence reposed in me by President Adesina to support him in ensuring the successful implementation of his bold vision for the Bank and the continent.
“I look forward to leading teams in the President’s Cabinet Office to provide managerial, administrative and operational bandwidth and to assure the success of the President’s vision and mandate following his historic re-election with 100% vote of the Bank’s shareholders.”
Ms Fal holds a Masters of Law degree (1984) from the University of Dakar, where she specialized in corporate and tax law, and a postgraduate degree in International Law (1987) from the University of Paris X.
According to Mr Adesina, “Yacine is a highly capable manager. She brings vast knowledge and experience of the Bank’s legal, procurement, human resources, processes, systems, and operations to her new position.
“I am delighted to have Yacine lead a restructured Cabinet Office of the President that will comprehensively support the delivery of my vision and mandate to strengthen the Bank and accelerate Africa’s development.”
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale