Dr. Solomane Kone

Director, Africa Natural Resources Management & Investment Center African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

Dr. Solomane KONE, an Ivorian national, is the Director of the Africa Natural Resources Management & Investment Center of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) since May 2025. Solomane has accumulated over thirty-three years of successful professional experience in designing, managing, leading and advising on strategies and operational activities at both regional and national levels; portfolio management and quality control; economic policy, applied research and reforms in universities, regional and multilateral development institutions. His expertise and leadership in the effective management of people and teams have resulted in quality and tangible results. Solomane joined the AfDB in January 2003, where he held several prior managerial and leadership positions, serving as Lead Economist, Acting Regional Director, Advisor to the Vice President for Country and Regional Programs, Country Manager in Cameroon and DRC, Deputy and Acting Director General for Central Africa. In these roles, he engaged in high-level strategic dialogue on issues of sustainable development, inclusive growth, employment, and business promotion with the governments and the private sector of Regional Member Countries of the Bank Group, technical and financial partners and other stakeholders, including Regional Economic Communities in Central, East, and West Africa.
Before joining the Bank Group, Dr. KONE had already accumulated over ten years of relevant experience in research, strategic economic and social policy analysis as a senior consultant, researcher, and policy analyst in various academic, national, and international institutions, including the Cornell University Food and Nutrition Policy Program (CFNPP) in the United States, the Ivorian Center for Economic and Social Research (CIRES), the ILO, and the OECD Development Centre. He also worked for seven years as a researcher and policy analyst at the regional Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). Solomane holds a Ph.D. degree and a Master degree in Economics and Development Planning from Cornell University in the United States, obtained in January 1993 and January 1990 respectively.