AfDB Vice President Blanke resigns

Dr Jennifer Blanke, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, has resigned her appointment.

The bank’s Communications and External Relations Department made this known in a statement on Wednesday.

Blanke, who joined the Bank in early 2017 and had overseen a number of the bank’s key programmes, would officially leave on July 4.

The statement quoted the outgoing Vice president as saying “I thank President Akinwumi Adesina for his strong leadership, guidance and support which have undoubtedly motivated and helped my team and I to play a key role in the transformation of the bank.

“I feel privileged to have been given an opportunity to contribute to the bank’s agenda for accelerating Africa’s social and economic trasformation.

“I am leaving purely for family reasons to rejoin my family in Switzerland after a very fulfilling time at the bank. I will miss the bank and the excellent team we have built.

“I will continue to strongly support the bank from whereever I am,” she stated.

Meanwhile, Adesina expressed delight to have worked with Blanke for more than three years and she had demostrated genuine leadership skills.

He said the outgoing vice president had moved “the needle on so many fronts especially in the areas of food security, women financial empowerment and job creation”.

The AfDB boss wished her all the best and looked forward to continued partnership and engagement with her.