Based in Saudi Arabia, IDB is a multilateral financial institution with 57 member countries across four continents. Mouhamadou Madana Kane joined the company in 2009 and since then has played a leading role from a legal standpoint on IDB’s operations in Africa, which are divided into North and Sub-Saharan Africa regions.

After being promoted in 2013 to the position of senior legal counsel, Kane participated in the appraisal and implementation of over 30 infrastructure, rural development, energy, and water and sanitation projects in sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the MENA region. Some of his achievements in that role include working on a $96m rural water supply and sanitation program in the eight UEMOA (The West African Economic and Monetary Union) countries, an $81m financing facility for a water supply expansion project in Nigeria and a $50m financing facility for a multilateral development bank based in Nigeria.

Kane’s achievements, which include many more multimillion dollar deals, did not go unrecognised by IDB’s management and he was promoted again in August 2017 to the position of lead legal counsel. In addition to managing legal risks and advising senior management, this role entails negotiating, structuring and documenting complex public sector or sovereign-guaranteed transactions, leading the legal aspects of operational policies and structuring new financing instruments.

As an experienced international lawyer and results-oriented professional, Kane has all the attributes to continue delivering legal innovations to solve evolving developmental problems. Outside of IDB, in 2015 he founded the African Center of International Law Practice (ACILP), an international legal think tank whose mandate is to bridge the gap between international law and public policy in Africa.