Mohamed Chérif is the new African Development Bank (AfDB) country manager for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although the Bank has not yet formally announced his appointment, Chérif presented himself in the role at the Makutano Forum held in Kinshasa on Nov. 25-26.

Chérif said he arrived in the country in November 2025, taking over from Mohamed Coulibaly, who had been serving as interim manager.

The appointment comes as the AfDB seeks to speed up the execution of its project portfolio in the DRC. The Bank has previously described Chérif as an official who has “proven himself in managing and monitoring large and complex country portfolios.”

From Nov. 17-20, the AfDB and the Congolese government held a portfolio review in Kinshasa, which led to a joint plan to improve the performance of AfDB-funded projects. Chérif took part in the meetings in his prior role as the Bank’s deputy director general for Central Africa.

He said the AfDB’s commitments in DRC total $1.6 billion, with a disbursement rate of only 28 percent and an average project age of 5.6 years. According to media reports, the new country manager said all projects with a disbursement rate below 20 percent must reach 50 percent by June 2026.

The AfDB said the performance plan will focus on stronger project ownership by line ministries, digitizing implementation and reporting processes, and strengthening the capacity of project teams.

The Bank had previously organized a training workshop on disbursement procedures for the financial staff of all its project implementation units in DRC on May 26-27, 2025.

The Congolese government also stressed the need for better performance. Vice Minister of Finance Yamba Kazadi Gracia underlined the stakes, saying: “Every unused dollar represents a school not built, a road not rehabilitated, a health center not equipped. We have a moral and political duty to transform this financing into tangible results for our country’s development.”

Before coming to Kinshasa, Chérif held the same post in Senegal beginning Jan. 1, 2021. He holds postgraduate degrees in agricultural engineering from Morocco’s National School of Agriculture in Meknes, rural economics from Laval University in Quebec, and an MBA from the University of Ottawa.

Timothée Manoke