Dr. Donald Kaberuka joined The Rockefeller Foundation board of trustees in 2015.
Dr. Kaberuka was most recently the President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), responsible for reducing poverty in Africa through spurring sustainable economic development and social progress in 54 member countries, with an authorized capital in excess of $43.5 billion. He was elected in 2005, becoming the bank’s seventh President, and serving two terms.
His tenure is described as the most successful decade in the history of the Bank, ably steering AfDB against the backdrop of historic change in Africa. Under his leadership, AfDB placed increased emphasis on the private sector, and on the importance of major infrastructure developments in road, railways, power plants and communications etc., to help promote regional integration and development in Africa. He implemented a ten year strategy focused on encouraging private sector activity to absorb the 15 million African youth that join the work force annually, and in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis, AfDB made record approvals of loans and grants totaling more than $12.6 billion, helping Africa avoid serious damage. In 2014, AfDB provided $223 million to help fight Ebola in Africa and to help rebuild affected economies.
Before joining AfDB, Dr. Kaberuka had a distinguished career in banking, international trade and development and government service. A national of Rwanda, he was the country’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning between 1997 and 2005.
Dr. Kaberuka was educated at universities in Tanzania and Scotland. He holds a PhD in Economics from Glasgow University.