Vice President, Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration

Rémy Rioux is the new vice president for infrastructure, private sector and regional integration of the African Development Bank. Appointed in March 2012, he will officially assume duty at mid-June 2012.

As an Africa specialist with sound practical knowledge of international financial institutions, Rémy Rioux is taking over a strategic vice-presidency which accounts for more than 70 percent of the African Development Bank’s annual commitments.

His duties will consist, among other responsibilities, in dealing with the many challenges facing his office, the institution’s very nerve centre. There is an upsurge in infrastructure demand, especially at the regional level in Africa. This is matched by a rapid development of private sector operations, an urgent need to combat climate change in Africa, and put the continent on track towards green growth.

These are some of the challenges that this resourceful 41-year-old is conversant with after 15 years spent at the highest levels of the French administration.

Prior to joining the AfDB, Rémy Rioux was the sub-director of International Financial Affairs and Development at the French Directorate-General of the Treasury. In this position, he was in charge of relations with the International Monetary Fund and multilateral development banks, in addition to his duties as board member of the French Development Agency.

As vice-president of the Club of Paris, he also played an active role during the French chairmanship of the G7, G8 and the G20 in 2011, especially in key operations for his new functions, such as the Deauville Partnership and the G20 infrastructure.  He also played an active role in climate negotiations as a member of the Transitional Committee for the design of the Green Climate Fund and various multilateral funds in this sector. Under his leadership, French development aid was half a percent of the country’s GDP at the end of 2010.

From 2007 to 2009, Rémy Rioux was the Director of Transport, Infrastructure and Media Equity Investments at the French Governmental Shareholding Agency. As board member of several major public corporations (including SNCF, Renault, Aéroports de Paris, and France Télévisions), he coordinated State equity participations, as well as various market operations and investments in large infrastructure projects. French State equity participations are currently estimated at €650 billion with more than 1.7 million employees. The creation of the French Governmental Shareholding Agency in 2004 has helped professionalize and significantly improve the profitability and performance of 70 public corporations under his supervision.

From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Rioux was in charge of monetary cooperation and development with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries at the Directorate-General of the Treasury. In this capacity, he was, among other responsibilities, in charge of organizing the meetings of ministers of the sixteen member States of the Franc Zone. He was also a board member of their central banks. He was also in charge of supervising the French Development Agency, and monitoring the European Development Fund.

As a magistrate at the Court of Auditors since 1997, Rémy Rioux has also performed various high level duties in the French administration. He also participated in the auditing of several United Nations agencies.

He is a graduate of the Ecole nationale d’administration, the Ecole normale supérieure, the Institut d’Etudes politiques of the University of Paris I, and the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales. He is the author of various scientific publications, including Finances Publiques which is in its third edition since 2003.

Rémy Rioux is married and father of three children.