International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced her intention to appoint Zeine Zeidane as Director of the African Department (AFR). He is intended to succeed Abebe Aemro Selassie, who will retire from the Fund on May 1, 2026, and the Executive Board has been informed of the planned appointment. Mr. Zeidane, a Mauritanian national, currently serves as Deputy Director in the Middle East and Central Asia Department, where he oversees engagement with major Gulf economies and supported the establishment of the IMF Regional Office in Riyadh in 2024. He previously served as a Deputy Director in AFR and worked on reforms to concessional lending policies and the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust during the pandemic, and he led work on the 2018 Governance Policy while in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department. Before joining the IMF in 2012, he held senior roles in Mauritania including Prime Minister and Governor of the Central Bank.
International Monetary Fund 2026-04-03
International Monetary Fund Managing Director announces intention to appoint Zeine Zeidane as Director of the African Department
The International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva intends to appoint Zeine Zeidane as Director of the African Department, succeeding Abebe Aemro Selassie, who will retire on May 1, 2026. Zeidane, currently Deputy Director in the Middle East and Central Asia Department and a former Mauritanian Prime Minister and Central Bank Governor, has previously held senior roles in the African Department and contributed to key IMF policy initiatives.