Mandé Sidibé

Mandé Sidibé, born January 20, 1940, is the Chairman of the Board of Director of Ecobank. Prior to his current role, he served as Prime Minister of Mali from 2000 to 2002 and as Director of the BCEAO (Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, i.e. Central Bank of the West African States) in Mali.

Sidibé was born in Bafoulabé, Mali, and raised in Bamako, Mali. He is the son of Mamadou Sidibé, a captain in the French Army. He attended the Terrasson de Fougères High School in Bamako, before leaving for France in 1959, where he obtained his Baccalauréat in 1960 at the Académie de Bordeaux. He also graduated with a degree in Economic Sciences (Licence ès-Sciences économiques) in 1965 from the University of Paris.

Upon his return to Mali, he started working at Bank of the Republic of Mali (BRM). Then, in 1967, he was offered and opportunity at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an Economist in the Africa Department. He held several positions at the IMF, including a Resident Advisor role in Chad from 1975 to 1977. He went on to become the divisional head, Africa Department. While at the IMF, he attended the George Washington University, from which he graduated with a Master in Business Administration in 1974.

In 1985, Mandé Sidibé left the IMF to join the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in various capacities, including Secretary General in charge of monetary policies and special advisor to the governor of BCEAO. From 1992 to 1995, he was the Director of BCEAO-Mali, while still retaining his role as a special advisor to the governor. In 1996, Mandé Sidibé became special advisor to the Malian president. From 2000 to 2002 Mandé Sidibé served as Prime Minister and Chief of Government of the Republic of Mali.

In 2006, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Director of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), a private sector banking group based in 13 countries of West and Central Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo).