World Bank names new country director for Kenya, Uganda

The World Bank Group has appointed Qimiao Fan as the new country director for Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda.

The country director will be responsible for the implementation of sector and project work and will report to the World Bank regional vice president.

Along with World Bank’s resident mission representatives, Fan is expected to manage the relationship with the four borrowing member countries.

He replaces Keith Hansen who has held the post since September of 2020.

Like Keith, Fan is a long-serving employee of the Washington DC-based multilateral lender, having joined the Group in 1991 and held various positions.

Prior to his appointment as Kenya country director, Fan served as country manager for Cambodia and as country director for Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

Fan has also served as director of strategy and operations for the Equitable Growth and Finance and director of strategy and operations in the Office of the Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships.

Most recently, he was Director of Strategic and Corporate Initiatives.

Fan will manage Kenya's relationship with the World Bank at a time when the country is increasingly relying on the lender to support its development projects amid limited external financing.

Kenya currently has a multi-year Development Policy Financing Facility (DPF) tied to conditions including the elimination of illegal perks paid by ministries and parastatals, the opening of jobs to refugees and the introduction and use of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

The World Bank disbursed Sh155 billion ($1.2 billion) to Kenya in June as part of the multi-year DPF, which includes a Sh109.8 billion ($850 million) loan and a Sh6.4 billion ($50 million) grant.

The funds will be used for development projects, including green projects.

Read: World Bank lines up new Sh240bn Kenya funding

Kenya expects to receive two further disbursements from the programme in 2025 and 2026.

Fan is expected to be based in Nairobi, where the World Bank Group has its regional office.

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