Gabriel Negatu is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. He is also currently affiliated with Invest Afrique Inc., a strategy and advisory group promoting and facilitating investments into Africa. He regularly advises governments and corporations on matters of economic reform, good governance, and regional integration.

Until 2019, he was African Development Bank director general for Eastern Africa, with portfolio management responsibility for lending and non-lending operations valued at more than $9 billion across thirteen countries. His portfolio mix included power, transport, water/sanitation, agriculture, and human development, which was financed through sovereign, non-sovereign, policy-based, and sector-specific project finance instruments. He also oversaw transaction advisory services, analytics, and knowledge products.

Previously, Negatu established and directed the Bank’s Economic and Financial Governance Department, responsible for economic/financial reforms in over twenty-five countries during the global financial crisis. He started his career in the Bank’s Policy & Compliance Review Department where he managed relations with stakeholder groups and mainstreamed innovations such as impact assessments and the Paris Declarations on Harmonization and Alignment.

Negatu completed advanced studies at major institutions including the University of Pittsburgh, the Harvard University School of Business, and the University of Manchester. He is a widely sought-after speaker and strategist, serves on several boards, and is featured in leading publications on Africa.