Odile Renaud-Basso assumes office as EBRD president

Odile Renaud-Basso assumed office as the new president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London today.

The former Director-General at the French Treasury was elected in October at the EBRD’s 2020 Annual Meeting, which was held in a virtual session and postponed from May due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The EBRD invests in 38 emerging economies in Europe, Asia and Africa, promoting primarily the sustainable development of the private sector. Ms Renaud-Basso is the first woman president of a multilateral development bank. At the EBRD, she follows Sir Suma Chakrabarti, who stepped down in July after serving two full four-year terms.

Ms Renaud-Basso said: “Today is the beginning of a new chapter for me and for the EBRD. These are challenging times and I have been hugely impressed by the Bank’s delivery to help our countries of operations and our clients deal with the economic impact of Covid-19. We have our roadmap for the next five years, the Strategic and Capital Framework, agreed by shareholders at the October Annual Meeting, and we will now work together to deliver the priorities contained within it.”

As Director-General at the French Treasury, Ms Renaud-Basso oversaw the development of France’s economic policies, leading on European and international financial affairs, trade policies, financial regulation and debt management.

In this position, she also served as Vice-President of the European Economic and Financial Committee, deputy to the G7 and G20 groups and French Governor or Alternate Governor of the World Bank, the EBRD and African Development Bank. She was also Chair of the Paris Club.

Ms Renaud-Basso is a graduate of the Paris Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po), and an Ecole Nationale d’Administration alumnus. She also attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Source: EBRD