Malado Kaba is the Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society at the African Development Bank. She is an accomplished leader in international development and finance with more than 25 years of experience. She combines her high-level experience in public- and private-sector organizations to deliver measurable impact. Her knowledge of government, global institutions, and NGOs gives her a unique insight into the requirements for successfully navigating complex organizational structures. Malado Kaba produces positive results for Africa and its citizens at the local, national, and international level.
Before joining the African Development Bank, Malado Kaba was the managing director of Falémé Conseil, a consultancy that provided advisory services to public and private sector organisations. She also served as the first female Economy and Finance minister of the Republic of Guinea. During her time as Minister, she reached record macroeconomic results and led successful actions to increase fiscal transparency, fight corruption and promote good governance. Prior to her ministerial position, she was country head for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in Guinea, advising leaders and senior officials in government on both public policies and project implementation. Before that, she worked as an economist for the European Commission in different countries and led a large portfolio of programs focusing on public, economic and government policy. She holds a master’s degree in development economics.
Malado is certified as a non-executive independent director of the Institute of Directors in London and sits on the Advisory Board of the African Women Investment Fund (AWIF) of the Economic Commission for Africa. She also sat as a Board trustee at International Budget Partnership and as the chairwoman of Orabank Guinea. A strong advocate for promoting women’s rights and leadership, Ms. Kaba mentors promising African women across the continent. She also advocates against gender-based violence.
In 2020, Malado was named as a member of the inaugural cohort of Amujae Leaders, the flagship initiative of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development. She was also the recipient of the AllAfrica Women Leadership Award for Good Governance and Public Administration in November 2019. In addition, in December 2017, she was named amongst the 10 Best Finance Ministers in Africa by FinancialAfrik.
Malado has written extensively about the need for greater transparency, cooperation across Africa’s public and private sectors, and women’s leadership.