Devex Pro Weekender: The mystery of the missing $5M, and TED’s wealth pledge

Relations between the African Development Bank and the government of Ethiopia seem to be thawing — but they’re not piping hot just yet. AfDB pulled its international staff out of the country last month following a “serious diplomatic incident” in which Ethiopian security forces are alleged to have “unlawfully arrested [and] physically assaulted” two of the bank’s staffers. AfDB warned the incident could hurt its future operations in the country. There’s now been some movement in the situation. Last week, the bank said its international staff could now return to the country after it received an apology from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. But in a press release, it mentioned another divisive (and likely related) issue, concerning funds that are owed to the bank but appear to have gone missing — Semafor reported that $5 million due to be deposited with AfDB had been lost to an email phishing scam at the Ethiopian finance ministry. In its update last weekend, the bank said Ethiopia had committed to cooperate with the bank on investigations into the whereabouts of the money. Inside Devex: We’re pleased to be welcoming Elissa Miolene to the team as a reporter focused on USAID and the U.S. government. Check out her first story — highlighting local leaders’ perspectives on USAID’s localization strategy — and get in touch with story ideas at elissa.miolene@devex.com. Also in today’s edition: Job moves aplenty as one adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden is set to leave for the private sector, and USAID’s COVID-19 team lead departs for a new job. Plus, the founder of TED Talks makes a wealth pledge, and WHO approves a first investment round. Keep reading for more! Jessica Abrahams Editor, Devex Pro Bits and pieces Afterthought. To kick us off, a little update to last week’s Weekender. Following criticism of its all-male COP 29 organizing committee, Azerbaijan has deigned to add some women. A total of 12 women were added, meaning that roughly a third of the committee is now female — a similar proportion to the UAE’s committee last year. The additions include Umayra Taghiyeva, deputy minister of ecology and natural resources; Sabina Aliyeva, human rights commissioner; and Bahar Muradova, chair of the state committee on family, women, and children’s affairs. Change of plan. And here’s another update after an apparent change of plan. In the first Weekender of the year, I reported that Poland had dismissed its representative to the World Bank, with the new government stating that its finance minister, Andrzej Domański, would represent the country at international financial institutions instead. However, a government source has since told Reuters that its new World Bank representative will be Mariusz Krukowski, currently chief adviser at the European Investment Bank. Farewell, White House. And there’s more job news to report because, according to Semafor, Biden’s special assistant on African affairs is planning to step down by mid-February. Judd Devermont will reportedly join Africa-focused private equity firm Kupanda Capital. Devermont authored the Biden administration’s white paper on U.S. strategy toward sub-Saharan Africa ahead of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022. Who’s funding WHO? There was also big news for global health watchers last week as countries gave the World Health Organization the green light to proceed with an "investment round" — essentially, a pledging conference, and the first of its kind for the health agency. WHO hopes it will lead to more predictable, flexible resources, as well as to the broadening of its donor base. Funding has been an ongoing problem for WHO. Its overreliance on key donors came to the fore when former U.S. President Donald Trump initiated his country’s withdrawal from the agency. The process was halted when Biden took over — but the prospect of a Trump presidency is looming again. The funding situation limits the agency’s technical and programming work, but WHO boss Dr. Tedros said at the executive board meeting last week that it has also left many WHO staff members on short-term contracts, limiting accountability. “If they see some problem, they can't say anything, because they would be afraid of losing their job,” he noted. Part of the success of the investment round will be in the details, particularly in how much of the funding is earmarked versus flexible. U.S. government representative Loyce Pace said earmarked contributions would be “important” to U.S. participation in the investment round, while Thailand proposed a criterion that at least 15% of voluntary contributions must be flexible. What TED said. Last but not least, I wanted to mention a new high-profile signatory of the Giving What We Can pledge. Chris Anderson, head of TED (known for its inspirational TED Talks), has committed to giving “the greater of 2.5% of wealth or 10% of income to high-impact charities each year” — making use of the organization’s new “wealth pledge” option. Giving What We Can pledges previously focused on income alone. It wasn’t all good news for TED last week, though, as four of its fellows resigned following the announcement of controversial billionaire Bill Ackman as a main speaker at this year’s conference. ✉️ Do you have insights into any of this week’s bits and pieces? Let me know by replying to this email. Pro must-reads Catch up on the top Pro articles of the week. • Alice Albright navigates MCC growth and identity on its 20th birthday. • Why UK aid spending is finally rising after years of painful cuts. • The World Bank’s top 10 contractors in 2023. Job of the week Value for Good is seeking a Health & Human Development Officer to join a new Human Development Accelerator Hub in Brussels. The hub is a partnership between the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It will develop and manage a pipeline of at least €1 billion of investment into global health and human development in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The Health & Human Development Officer will help to identify investments and build partnerships for the hub, bringing “a range of development experience in health, nutrition, education, gender and/or market shaping.” Find out more and apply via the Devex job board. Up next ECOSOC. The U.N. Economic and Social Council's Partnership Forum and Coordination Segment takes place this week. In line with the thematic reviews slated for this year’s high-level political forum, the focus will be on the SDGs relating to poverty, hunger, peace and justice, and partnerships. Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Neglected diseases. The next G-FINDER report, from Policy Cures Research, drops this week. It tracks investment in neglected tropical diseases during 2022. Join the launch event. Jan. 31. Moving on Sabs Quereshi is moving to Nairobi to join WHO, leading its emergency preparedness response hub for eastern and southern Africa. Quereshi is also an adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs and previously served as a senior adviser on health and biosecurity to the Biden administration. Three new regional directors were also formally appointed last week to lead WHO in the eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific regions. They are Hanan Hassan Balkhy, Saima Wazed, and Saia Ma’u Piukala, respectively. Maimunah Sharif has left her role as executive director of UN-Habitat after six years. Her successor has not yet been announced. Beth Tritter, formerly director of the COVID-19 response team at USAID, has joined strategic advisory firm FGS Global as a partner, we learned via email. Tamara Cofman Wittes is the next president of the National Democratic Institute. She joins from the U.S. State Department, where she served as director of foreign assistance. Fifa Rahman, who some of you will know from her work as a civil society representative to the ACT-Accelerator during the COVID-19 pandemic, will be leading work on pandemic preparedness and response negotiations for Africa CDC. Starting next month, Kristie Mikus will be the executive director of the Global Health Technologies Coalition. She was previously senior policy adviser for the Global Health Center at the U.S. CDC. Jay L. Knott is joining the social change organization Metropolitan Group as its next president. He previously served as chief operating officer for the Environmental Defense Fund, following a 20-year career at USAID. The Asia Society has named Kyung-wha Kang as its next president and chief executive officer. Did we miss one? Is there a change on the horizon? Let us know at devexpro@devex.com.