Having spent over three decades at the African Development Bank, Thomas Sakala is supposed to know better than most of his competitors the bank’s history, its politics, its developed strengths and where it is still struggling.
From being a loans officer — his first job at the bank in 1983 — Sakala climbed the ranks and served senior positions in different capacities. He sat as manager of the bank’s human resource and education division, and served as resident representative of its office in Nigeria. He also headed the team in charge of implementing the bank’s reform agenda.
He also became involved in the bank’s programming and budget, at one point served as acting vice president of corporate services, before finally becoming vice president of country and regional programs and policies, under which he coordinated the bank’s programs across 54 African countries as well as those targeted at regional economic groupings.