Press Release: Antoinette Sayeh, Director of the African Department, to Retire from the Fund

IMF News, June 8, 2016

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Canonical URL: Press Release: Antoinette Sayeh, Director of the African Department, to Retire from the Fund

Press Release No. 16/267
Date: June 8, 2016
Ms. Antoinette Sayeh has notified IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde of her intention to retire from the Fund, effective August 31, 2016.
Contact for media: IMF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, Media Relations
- E-mail: media@imf.org
- Phone: 202-623-7100

Ms. Sayeh served as Director of the African Department for eight years.
She joined the IMF in July 2008.
Prior experience:
- Finance Minister of Liberia during 2006-08, where she led efforts to clear her country’s debt arrears as it emerged from a decade of civil war.
- 17 years of experience at the World Bank.

Leadership and diplomacy:
- Credited with “quiet, effective diplomacy, deep analytical capability, and an unrivalled understanding of the challenges facing her continent,” according to Ms. Lagarde.
- Described by Ms. Lagarde as “a great leader of the African Department, a respected colleague, a friend and a mentor to many.”
Policy and operational reforms:
- Contributed to the reform of the Fund’s concessional lending facilities in 2010.
- Contributed to the reform of the Fund’s debt limits policy.
- Supported reforms that enabled the Fund to provide emergency financing and debt relief to the three countries hit by the Ebola crisis in 2014.
- Oversaw efforts to improve the effectiveness of the Fund’s technical assistance in Africa, with a sharper focus on institution building, especially in fragile states.

Source: Press Release No. 16/267, June 8, 2016, IMF Communications Department.