Africa50 appoints former IFC regional director Cheick-Oumar Sylla as CEO

Africa50, the specialist African infrastructure investor, has appointed former International Finance Corporation (IFC) regional director Cheick-Oumar Sylla as Chief Executive Officer of its Project Development Fund.

Sylla will lead the organisation’s efforts to convert African infrastructure needs into bankable investment opportunities.

The appointment, announced on Tuesday, September 1, positions Sylla at the centre of Africa50’s 2030 roadmap as the organisation seeks to strengthen its project development platform and build a pipeline of investment-ready infrastructure projects capable of attracting African institutional capital and global investors.

What they are saying

Africa50 Group CEO Alain Ebobissé said the appointment reflects how central project development has become to the organisation’s broader ambition to scale infrastructure investment across Africa.

• “Project Development is central to Africa50’s next phase of growth and to our ambition to significantly scale infrastructure investment across the continent. By working alongside governments to translate their infrastructure priorities into bankable, investment-ready projects, we can build a stronger pipeline of opportunities capable of attracting African institutional capital and global investors,” Ebobissé said.
• “Cheick-Oumar brings the depth of project development, investment and public-private sector experience needed to help us scale this capability. His leadership will be instrumental as we accelerate project development from concept to bankability and ultimately bring more investable infrastructure opportunities to market,” he added.

Sylla described project development as the core mechanism through which Africa50 creates investable infrastructure, framing his appointment as an opportunity to accelerate that process as the…