The African Development Bank Group has appointed Dr. Vanessa Ushie, a natural resource economist, as Acting Director of the African Natural Resources Centre, effective 16 November 2021.
A Nigerian citizen, Dr. Ushie has over 20 years of experience in natural resources policy. She has worked in various roles in policy think-tanks, civil society, the private sector, and multilateral organizations, including the African Development Bank.
She joined the Bank in 2018 and currently heads the Economic and Policy Analysis Division in the African Natural Resources Centre. In this role, she leads a team of experts to generate knowledge, and provide advice and technical assistance to the Bank's regional member countries on natural resources policies and investments. Her Division also engages in policy dialogue and advocacy on sustainable, integrated natural resources management.
Dr. Ushie has developed and led various strategic initiatives on natural resources management. She helped develop a multi-million-dollar project on financial modeling in the extractive sector, which supports eight transitional regional member countries to better understand and monitor the expected returns from mining and petroleum investments. She created an initiative to better mainstream natural capital - or natural assets - in Africa's development finance architecture in partnership with leading development agencies. This initiative has established the African Development Bank as a key global actor in financing natural capital for sustainable development. She also developed a program on nature-based solutions for climate resilience, which supports investment decision-making to mitigate climate risks in large-scale extractive sector projects in Africa.
Dr. Ushie recently created an initiative called Women in Natural Resources in Africa to boost women's economic empowerment. Currently in its pilot phase, the initiative analyses the opportunities for creating green jobs for women in Africa in the wake of Covid-19 in six countries.
Before joining the Bank, Dr. Ushie was Advisor on Mineral Sector Governance at the African Minerals Development Centre and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Dr. Ushie began her professional career in 2000 as a research executive in Nigeria's foremost private sector organization, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. She is an alumnus of the prestigious Petroleum Technology Development Fund Nigeria scholarship program.
She played an active role in advancing the Africa Mining Vision agenda, developing the foundation of an African Minerals Governance Framework, a policy instrument that was adopted by the African Union Ministers of Mineral Resources Development in 2016, and has been used to monitor the progress in Africa Mining Vision implementation across the African continent.
Dr. Ushie holds a Doctorate in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London, a Master's degree in International Trade from the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, and a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Calabar, Nigeria.
"Natural resources are the backbone of African economies. I look forward to working with the Bank's Management and Board to continue supporting our regional member countries in harnessing their natural resources for sustainable development," Dr. Ushie said:
The President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, said: "I am delighted to appoint Vanessa as Acting Director. With her experience and execution capacity, she will provide leadership to the African Natural Resources Centre team, to support regional member countries to improve development outcomes through effective management of natural resources wealth by delivering practical solutions on policy, legislative and investment decisions in the sector."
