Dr. Kapil Kapoor, from the African Development Bank, joins IBRAF’s Advisory Board
Director General for Southern Africa at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Kapil Kapoor is the new member of the Brazil Africa Institute’s Advisory Board. With a PhD in Economics and an MBA in Finance, he has led the preparation of the AfDB’s Long-Term Strategy to support the transformation of Africa over the next decade.
Dr. Kapoor joins IBRAF’s Advisory Board in a fruitful moment of the relationship between the two institutions.
“Recognizing the importance of Brazil as an important investor across Africa, and as an important shareholder in the African Development Bank, the Bank has been partnering with the Brazil Africa Institute during the past several years in a range of initiatives, predominantly related to the agriculture sector. I have had the opportunity to be centrally involved in this partnership and have participated in events that IBRAF has organized in recent years.” – Dr. Kapil Kapoor
Dr. Kapoor has an established track record of effectively engaging Governments in high level policy dialogue, catalyzing policy change in a variety of difficult economic and political settings and supporting development initiatives through innovative project finance. As a Board member, Dr. Kapil Kapoor expects to contribute in advising IBRAF’s management on how to approach initiatives that can take advantage of areas in which Brazil has recognized expertise for the benefit of the African continent.
“With multiple years of experience working with a range of Multilateral Development Banks, I have good connections with the international development community at fairly high levels. I would be able to mobilize these connections to support initiatives that promote South-South collaboration and especially in areas of business development. The agriculture sector is, in my view, a critically important sector in which Brazil can transfer both technology and capital to help improve productivity in the sector, which will facilitate Africa’s integration into global agricultural value chains.” – Dr. Kapil Kapoor
Another point to be reinforced with his presence in the Advisory Board is the rapprochement between Brazil with the countries of Lusophone Africa.
Brazilian investors already have a significant presence in Lusophone countries like Angola and Mozambique. The Bank, with support from the Portuguese Government, is implementing a Lusophone Compact to facilitate partnerships among Portuguese speaking countries and I believe I could help IBRAF integrate and participate in several of the activities envisaged under the Lusophone compact.” – Dr. Kapil Kapoor
