AfDB Announces Resignation of the Vice President

• The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced the resignation of its Vice President of Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Dr. Jennifer Blanke, effective 4 July 2020.
• Dr. Jennifer Blanke explained that the resignation is solely for family reasons. She intends to rejoin her family in Switzerland.
• She thanked the President, Akinwumi Adesina for his strong leadership which is driving the transformation of the bank.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced the resignation of its Vice President of Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Dr. Jennifer Blanke, effective 4 July 2020.

This was revealed by the AfDB via a tweet on the bank’s official Twitter handle on Wednesday June 11, 2020.

Jennifer Blanke, who joined the bank in early 2017 and has supervised a variety of the bank’s key programmes, pointed out that her departure was purely for family reasons. She intends to rejoin her family in Switzerland after a very fulfilling time at the bank.

The statement from the bank says, “The African Development Bank has announced that Dr. Jennifer Blanke, Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, will be leaving the bank effective July 4, 2020.”

READ ALSO: African Development Bank Approves Fresh Probe of its President, Akinwumi Adesina

Blanke said, “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 transformation.”

The outgoing Vice President said, “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 wherever I am.”

In the meantime, the Bank ‘s President, Akinwumi Adesina, voiced his delight in working with Dr. Jennifer Blanke over the past three and a half years in his own message. He said she had shown true leadership qualities, and wished her all the best.

It can be recalled that after a series of allegations by a group of whistleblowers, the AfDB was engulfed by a leadership crisis as the United States, the second-largest shareholder, had asked for an independent probe of the bank ‘s president. Adesina has denied any charges, however.