Carole Wainaina:  Mobilizing Finance to Build Africa’s Infrastructure

In 2017 the African Development Bank announced the appointment of Kenyan Carole Wainaina as the Chief Operating Officer for the bank’s Africa 50 initiative. Africa50 is an infrastructure fund owned by African governments, institutional investors, and the African Development bank whose mission is to mobilise long term funding to promote infrastructure development in Africa In her role as COO her portfolio includes oversight on strategy, investor relations, communications and environmental and social governance issues.  Carole, who holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, has had global management and executive experience which she has brought to Africa 50. Carole’s career includes a stint at the United Nations where she served as the Assistant Secretary General for Human Resources.

Before joining the UN, Carole had several years of experience in the private sector in the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Kenya. Some of her positions include serving as Chief of Staff for the Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola and Executive Committee member of Royal Phillips in the Netherlands. During her time as COO for Africa50 Carole has overseen a number of developments including the addition of new shareholders to the fund such as Rwanda, Mauritius, and Nigeria.