## 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](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr16267)

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: June 8, 2016

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### Announcement
- 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

### Career and background
- 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.

### Contributions and initiatives
- 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.

### Succession
- The search process to identify a successor to Ms. Sayeh will begin right away.

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

---


## References

- [Liberia and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/LBR/index.htm)
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- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr16267_