The World Bank Group has appointed Nathan Belete as the new country director for Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Belete is an Ethiopian national and a development professional with over 25 years of work experience across Africa, East Asia, and South Asia. He was previously the World Bank’s country director for Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal, based in Dakar.
Belete will be based in Dar es Salaam from where he will oversee a portfolio of about $12.5 billion in total commitments for the four countries. This support covers priority areas of human capital, agriculture, infrastructure, private sector development, climate, and gender, among others.
Prior to Belete’s country director assignments, he managed the World Bank’s Food and Agriculture Global Practice in the East Asia and Pacific Region, based in Vietnam, from 2014 to 2019. Prior to that, he was the sector manager for the World Bank's Sustainable Development Department in Indonesia. His career at the World Bank has included assignments in the World Bank’s country offices in Nairobi, New Delhi, and Beijing with responsibilities for investments and technical assistance activities in agriculture and rural development, among others.
The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.6 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $21 billion over the last three years, with about 61% going to Africa.
