Christian Narcisse Adovelande
President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD)
Surname: Adovelande
First names: Christian Narcisse
Date and place of birth: 29 October 1950, Porto-Novo, Benin
Nationality: Beninese
Marital status: Married, 3 children
Profession: President of the West African Development Bank
Education
- Advanced Degree in Finance and Banking
- Masters in Economics
- Advanced training course at the Belgian Corporation for International Investment (SNI/SBI) in Belgium
- Advanced training course in capital risk/capital investment at SIPAREX (France) and TUNINVEST (Tunisia)
Languages
French: written, spoken, read
English: written, read
Experience
February 2011 to present: President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD)
The BOAD is the development bank for the eight States belonging to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Its shareholders are: the Member States (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo); the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), the AfDB; the EIB; France; Belgium; Germany; the Export-Import Banks of India and the People’s Republic of China. Its authorised capital on 31 December 2011 was 1,050 billion CFAF. The cumulative approved grants and loans for projects by the Bank grew to 1,810.2 billion CFAF in 2011, and were used for 547 operations, including operations by the Bank’s Energy Development Fund. Mr Adovelande is responsible for the national and regional development projects approved by the Bank. These projects fall under the following sectors: agricultural development, improvement of living conditions for populations, improvement of water distribution systems, sanitation, improvement of energy, transport, communication, and telecommunications infrastructure, industrial units, and strengthening the financial system of the WAEMU. Mr Adovelande supports the carbon initiative founded in 2008, which finances adaptation, attenuation, and technology transfer projects in the light of climate change. He got the BOAD accredited as the Regional Implementation Body for the Climate Adaptation Fund, and he applied for the position of Project Manager for the Global Environment Facility (GEF). He is currently creating a Carbon Fund and a Climate Investment Fund, and the former will take effect in 2012.
Sept. 2009 – Feb. 2011: Vice president of the Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Group
July 2002 – Feb. 2011 : President of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).
The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is the investment and development bank for the fifteen Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Mr Adovelande, who was the bank’s first president, founded the BIDC in 2003 in order to transform ECOWAS’s former Fund into an investment and development bank. The bank is in its ninth year of operations.
As the president of the EBID, Mr Adovelande initiated and created the African Biofuel and Renewable Energy Fund (ABREF) in 2007. He supported and obtained financing and co-financing for several projects and programmes relating to climate adaptation and mitigation that qualified for financing from the BIDC and FABER, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the GEF.
Jan. 2000 to June 2002: President and CEO of Cauris Management S.A. and CEO of Cauris Investment S.A., a venture capital firm.
Cauris Investment S.A., founded in 1995, is the leading capital investment firm that invests at a sub-regional level, and it is active in the eight (8) Member States of the WAEMU. Main shareholders: The BOAD, PROPARCO, the EIB, Coopération Belge, FAGACE (African Fund for Guarantee and Economic Cooperation), BOA-Benin.
Nov. 1995 – May 1999: Deputy Secretary General (fulfilling the role of Director General) for the Guarantee Fund for Private Investment in West Africa (GARI S.A.).
Capital guarantee fund with a value of 125 million CFAF active in the 15 ECOWAS Member States, guaranteeing bank loans to private businesses. Main shareholders: AFD, EIB, DEG, Coopération Suisse, BOAD and the 23 West African commercial banks.
Oct. – Nov. 1995: Head of the Division of Financial Institutions and the Promotion of SMEs at the BOAD.
June 1994 – Oct. 1995: Head of the Rural Development and Infrastructure Division (DDRI)
Head of the Rural Development Division; responsible for the programming, coordination and monitoring of the division’s activities. Evaluation of the project Development of the Handicraft Industry in the Rural Areas, evaluation of the Village Waterworks Project.
June 1991 – May 1994: Principal Financial Analyst at the Department of Financial Institutions and Industry at the BOAD.
Responsible for the identification, evaluation, and supervision of projects, credit lines, framework agreements and equity participation in financial institutions (creation of a housing bank in Ivory Coast, implementation of a framework agreement for refinancing, and equity participation in a capital increase of the Bank of Africa in Benin, creation of a Regional Guarantee Fund for Private Investments in West Africa (‘GARI’ Fund), participation by the BOAD in the share capital of the holding firm Meridien BIAO S.A. in order to take control of the former BIAO network in Africa, establishment of a framework refinancing agreement for the Banque de Développement du Mali (BDM), buyback of the Nigeria International Bank in Niger from the BOA network, and equity participation by the Bank in BOA-Niger, implementation of a line of credit for the funding of micro-enterprises by the Economic Promotion Fund of Senegal, implementation of a framework agreement for equity participation in the share capital of Crédit Sénégalais, supervision of the project
framework agreement for refinancing for the Compagnie Financière de Côte d’Ivoire (COFINCI), supervision of the line of credit to the Banque nationale pour Ie Développement Agricole (BNDA) in Ivory Coast.
May 1985 – June 1991: Professional at the Department of Loans and Investment at the BOAD (Rural Development Division)
Identification, evaluation, supervision, and monitoring of projects: Food Security, Rural Development, Rural Water Supply, Agricultural Water Supply, the Rehabilitation of Textile Factories, Support to Village Groups.
April 1983 – May 1985: Financial Analyst and Accountant at the Department of Financial Operations and Accounts at the BOAD
– Auditing of financial operations: disbursements, reimbursements, interest and commission, donor relations and relations with the BCEAO;
– Auditing of accounts procedures: accounting entries, fiscal control, cash control, participation in drawing up balance sheets and financial statements of the BOAD.
Oct. 1979 – May 1983: Financial Analyst at the Department of Financial Institutions and Industry at the BOAD
Responsible for the evaluation, supervision, and monitoring of industrial projects and national development financing institutions (Société Financière Sénégalaise de Développement Industriel et de Tourisme in Senegal (SOFISEDIT), Banque Ivoirienne de Développement Industriel (BIDI) in Ivory Coast, the SONITEXTIL project in Niger, the Domaine Industrie de Kossodo project in Burkina Faso).
April 1978 – May 1979: Graduate and intern at the headquarters of the BOAD in Lomé
Experience with other institutions
Joint evaluation and co-financing of development projects with the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund, the Kuwaiti Fund, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the CFD.
Computer skills
- Standard operating systems and programmes (MAC (Leopard, Tiger), Windows, MS Office Suite, MAC Suite)
- Professional programmes (COSTAB: developed by the FAO and the World bank for
detailed cost evaluation of projects, COM FAR: developed by UNIDO for financial and economic analysis of industrial projects, DASI MANIP: developed by the FAO for the financial and economic analysis of agricultural projects, CDI: developed by the CDI for the financial and economic analysis of industrial projects, accounting software.