Former Finance Minister, Consultant, International Development and Finance Expert
Republic of Guinea

Malado Kaba currently serves as Director of the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB), having been appointed in June 2022.

Ms. Kaba has over 25 years of experience in international development and finance, covering public policy, macroeconomic policies, gender, and development strategies. She is an accomplished leader in international development and finance and has served as the first female minister of Finance and the Economy for the Republic of Guinea. Ms. Kaba has a combination of high-level experience in public and private-sector organizations and has worked with the government, global institutions, and non-governmental organizations.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Kaba was the Managing Director of Falémé Conseil, a consultancy firm which provides advisory services to public and private sector organizations on strategy, economic development, governance, capacity building, and financial inclusion.

As a minister from 2016-2018, she led successful initiatives to increase fiscal transparency, fight corruption, and promote good governance. In 2017, Ms. Kaba successfully negotiated a new IMF Extended Credit Facility agreement, which included a commercial loan envelop of $650 million, and also led and completed negotiations for $2.5 billion in funding to build Guinea’s biggest dam (the 500MW Souapiti dam) and other infrastructure projects.

Before her appointment as minister, Ms. Kaba served as country head for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in Guinea, advising leaders and senior officials in government on both public policies and project implementation. She led a team in the implementation of a portfolio of government projects (energy infrastructure, health, and governance) worth more than $2 billion. Before that, she worked as an economist for the European Commission in different countries and led a large portfolio of programs focusing on public, economic, and government policy.

Ms. Kaba is certified as a non-executive independent Director of the Institute of Directors, London, and sits on the advisory board of the African Women Investment Fund (AWIF) of the Economic Commission for Africa. She is also a board trustee at International Budget Partnership and the Chairwoman of Orabank Guinea. Since November 2021, she has been a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development, a US-based think-tank. A strong advocate for promoting women’s rights and leadership, Ms. Kaba mentors promising African women across the continent.