Ezekwesili heads new Africa Devt Initiative

BY Emmanuel Aziken

Former World Bank Vice-President, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, has been appointed to lead a new economic initiative for Africa termed ?Africa Economic Policy Development Initiative?.

The new initiative, announced yesterday, will operate under the aegis of the George Soros-funded Open Society for West Africa.

Ezekwesili, who is to operate from Abuja, is to advise ?the leaders and policymakers of the countries on their economic strategy and policy reforms that can help boost investment and create job growth in the Mano River region.?

The initiative, in the next three years, will expand to include other countries across Africa. ?I am delighted for Oby to join our team working on Africa,? said George Soros, Chairman and Founder of Open Society Foundations.

?My foundations have long been committed to fostering economic development in post-conflict countries and nations transitioning to democracy,? he added.

In her role as Senior Economic Advisor, Ezekwesili will oversee the creation of a public policy advisory centre in Abuja that will collaborate with Paul Collier, the professor of economics, who focuses on developing countries, and others to provide economic policy solutions to pro-reform governments starting with Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

She also will help establish a separate Africa-wide graduate school of public policy based in Nigeria, which will collaborate with leading universities, including the School of Public Policyat, the Central European University.

?Oby has dedicated her career to the proposition that governments in Africa, as elsewhere, can achieve equitable growth when they are open, honest, and disciplined,? said Christopher Stone, President of the Open Society Foundations. Oby get things done. She is the right person to lead this new initiative,? Stone added.

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Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/08/ezekwesili-heads-new-africa-devt-initiative/

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