Economic Commission for Africa Executive Secretary, K.Y. Amoako Friday completes his term at the helm of the continent's leading development think-tank.
As he departs, the institution looks back on a decade of institutional reform and increasingly prominent programmatic work at the cutting edge of policy-making for African development.
"My work at ECA has been the most professionally rewarding of my career," Amoako said. "We have worked closely with African policy makers and leaders to sharpen economic and social policy and I'm proud of what we have achieved."
The Vice-President of the Canadian International Development Agency, Paul Hunt, said Amoako's "vision, wisdom and dedication to the eradication of poverty have been inspirational." He singled out, in particular, the contribution ECA and Amoako had made to the development of the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
Amoako also noted ECA's work to build partnerships between African governments and international donors. "We have worked with others to move Africa's development challenges to the top of the global agenda; with the Commission for Africa, the G8, the WTO, the World Summit and other bodies all focused on solving African problems this year, I believe we have succeeded," he said.
That view was echoed in tributes paid by leading voices in international development. Mme Ndioro Ndiaye, Deputy Director General of the International Organisation of Migration expressed "pride and best wishes" on his departure and said: "If Africa is still a focus of the world's attention, it is in no small part, thanks to the quality of his contribution."
Richard Carey of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee praised Amoako's "immense personal contribution to the new ideas, processes and statements of principle and policy that are transforming the African scene."
ECA's work has grown increasingly influential in recent years, particularly with the convening of major meetings such as the annual "Big Table" of African finance ministers and OECD development cooperation ministers, and the African Development Forum at which over a thousand leaders, experts and activists discuss key development issues.
Early in his tenure, Amoako launched a major reform process at ECA to adjust priorities and direct expenditure to areas of critical need. The work-programme was minutely reviewed and re-focused, and professional personnel renewed in order to make the Commission's work more relevant.
The World Bank's former Africa region head Callisto Madavo congratulated Amoako on "a decade of superb service to Africa and the international development community," and said: "You took an organisation that had lost its way and transformed it into a world class agency."
An independent consultants report last year on the state of the institution said: "These are among the most thorough and thoughtful reforms to have ever been undertaken by the UN there is no other contemporary example of the magnitude and reach of such reforms in the UN system."
Amoako joined ECA in 1995. During his time at ECA he has also served on the UK's Commission for Africa, the Commission on Capital Flows to Africa and the World Health Organisation's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health.
He first studied economics at the University of Legon, Ghana, before going on to do his MA and PhD in economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He went on to work for two decades in various roles at the World Bank, including positions as resident representative in Zambia and as division chief and department director in Washington.
Amoako will be succeeded on October 1 by Mr Abdoulie Janneh who joins ECA after a 26-year career with the United Nations Development Programme, most recently as Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa in New York.
