WORLD BANK APPOINTS TONYE COLE

Nigeria: World Bank Appoints Nigerian Into Advisory Council

The World Bank Group has appointed the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole, into its Expert Advisory Council on citizen engagement.

The council was established in 2014 to guide the development and implementation of the Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in the Bank's operations.

The strategic framework of the council was designed to give citizens a stake in decision making to improve the intermediate and final development outcomes of their partnerships with government.

Mr Cole, who is one of the first two Nigerians ever to be appointed to the Council, said the platform would help articulate and address the real concerns of the private citizenry across the globe on a size and scale only the World Bank is capable of providing.

"The World Bank is a results-driven institution. I am delighted at the opportunity to collaborate with other members of the Council on robust agenda setting and implementation of initiatives that are so crucial to global sustainable development," said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday by Sahara Group's spokesperson, Bethel Obioma.

Mr Obioma said Mr Cole is one of the two designated private sector specialists on the Council, composed of two representatives each from civil society, academia, the private sector, governments, foundations and development partner/donor organisations.

Other new members joining the Council are: Flavia Milano (Inter-American Development Bank), Helena Bjunemalm (Swedish International Development Agency), Emily Martinez (Open Society Foundations) and another Nigerian, Muhammed Sanu Abdullahi (Government of the State of Kaduna)

"My work with global agencies and institutions on sustainable development has only reinforced the importance of private and public sector collaboration. My colleagues and I believe continued cross-sectorial and multi-stakeholder engagement can transform the landscape on sustainability and social development for the next generation. I am feeling very positive as we collectively embark on this new chapter," he said.