The president of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has approved the appointment of Mr. Takashi Hanajiri, as head of the Asia external representation office in the Bank’s Tokyo office with effect from 16 August, 2019.

Takashi has over 28 years of professional experience covering national fiscal and monetary planning, and international development and business relations, including bilateral and multilateral development assistance, foreign exchange policy development, debt management, investor relations, regional financial cooperation and currency swap arrangements.

Until his appointment, he was a counselor at the Japan economic revitalization bureau in the cabinet secretariat of the Japanese government, leading the design of the government’s growth strategy in healthcare to address the challenges of a decreasing and ageing population.

Takashi had a four-year stint (2009-13) at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) where, as senior advisor to the chief finance officer in the finance department, he gained valuable knowledge in the inner workings of regional multilateral development banks and development financing.

He brings to the African Development Bank considerable knowledge of the economic policy-making processes of many countries and regions, including China, Korea, ASEAN, India, Central Asia, as well as Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Dr Adesina said: “ The Asia External Representation Office of the African Development Bank Group is critical for building strategic alliances and partnerships with Asia to advance the Bank’s work in Africa, and for mobilizing resources for Africa. I am delighted that Takashi Hanajiri is joining the Bank to head the office. He brings extensive experience in Japan, and on development policies in Asia, as well as in Latin America and Caribbean. His breadth of knowledge and leadership will be important to deepen the Bank’s engagement with Asian countries.”

Takashi started his career in 1991 at the Japanese ministry of finance, where he worked in several divisions, including international organizations, foreign exchange markets, regional financial cooperation, coordination, and government debt.

He rose to become the director, fiscal investment and loan appropriation in the financial bureau, ministry of finance, a position he held until 2017. He had worked previously at the Japanese ministry of foreign affairs as the director, country assistance planning division II in the international cooperation bureau from 2013 to 2015.

While at the ministry of finance, he also played a significant role in the development of the original plan of the 2016 and 2017 fiscal investment loan program (FILP), a policy scheme for government lending and investment of about $1.4 billion per year. He also monitored and assessed institutional loan portfolios, sector concentration, and the status of the largest lending projects.

Takashi’s other key achievements include the planning and arrangement of Japanese official development assistance to developing countries in South Asia, Central Asia, Caucasia, Latin America and Caribbean regions, in which he ensured the effective utilization of available development tools, including soft loans by JICA, grant assistance, technical assistance and grass-roots activities.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Tokyo and a master’s degree in development economics from Yale University, USA.