Hassatou Diop N’Sele has been hired by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group to serve as vice president for finance and chief financial officer.
Since November 2021, N’Sele, a Senegalese national, has been filling the position. In 1999, N’Sele, a seasoned expert with more than 30 years of banking and finance experience, started working for the African Development Bank as a Senior Treasury Officer.
Prior to being named Treasurer of the African Development Bank Group in 2015, she held the posts of Principal Treasury Officer, Chief Treasury Officer, and Manager of the Capital Markets and Financial Operations Division.
Her strategic leadership as treasurer has improved the bank’s fund-raising, investing, and hedging activities. She oversaw the African Development Bank’s successful global growth of its capital markets operations.
She manages over $33 billion under the bank’s borrowing portfolio, oversees the group’s investment of over $25 billion in liquidity in multicurrency portfolios, and oversees its hedging activities, banking relationships, and back-office operations. She leads a diverse team of highly experienced professionals.
N’Sele was the driving force behind the AfDB’s introduction into the social and green bond markets. She has made significant contributions to the capital markets, notably the $3 billion Fight Covid-19 bond that was issued in 2020. As a result, the African Development Bank has issued the most social bonds of any multilateral development bank to date.
In order to maximize the institution’s financial capabilities, N’Sele has spearheaded significant strategic and technical financial efforts. She created the framework for its long-term fiscal viability.
Under the direction of the president and vice-president for Finance, she also had a significant impact on the creation of the Special Temporary Callable Capital Increase.
N’Sele is providing strategic and technical leadership as the bank’s treasurer in conversations about the bank’s ability to handle risk as well as the creation of new financial products. From 2018 to 2019, she oversaw the creation of the framework for the bank group’s long-term financial sustainability.
Additionally, N’Sele offered strategic support for discussions with member nations on general capital increases for the regional bank, funding for the African Development Fund (ADF), and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. She is leading negotiations with rating agencies about important financial issues. Under her direction, the AfDB successfully made the switch from Libor and added hybrid capital to its arsenal of financing tools.
N’Sele said about her appointment as follows: “I am grateful to President Adesina for appointing me into this position and for his confidence. It is an honor and a privilege to serve the AfDB Group’s powerful and formidable development mandate. I am looking forward to working under the leadership of President Adesina, with my dedicated and talented colleagues at the Bank, and with our Board of Directors, to continue to support the mandate and mission of the African Development Bank to transform Africa”.
Dr. Adesina, president of the AfDB Group, commented on the appointment and said: “I am pleased to appoint Mrs. Hassatou Diop N’Sele as Vice-President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Hassatou is a seasoned finance professional with extensive experience and outstanding contributions at the African Development Bank. She will provide leadership for the top-rate finance team at the bank, in the formulation and implementation of its financial strategies and transformation agenda, and in support and furtherance of its development mandate.”
