News

CGAP Welcomes New Chair and Members to its Executive Committee

Paris, France, June 23, 2022 - The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) welcomed a new chair and four new members to its Executive Committee, which functions as CGAP’s advisory board, at CGAP's annual Council of Governor's meeting on Thursday.

Effective July 1st, Juliet Anammah will succeed Jason Lamb, deputy director of Financial Services for the Poor (FSP) at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as chair of the Executive Committee. Anammah is Group Chief Sustainability Officer at Jumia, Africa’s first tech start-up to be listed on the NYSE, and former CEO of Jumia Nigeria. She currently serves as an advisor and board member of publicly listed companies such as Flour Mills Plc and Nigerian Breweries.

“As the world grapples with inflation, food insecurity, supply chain pressures, and a protracted war in Europe, CGAP’s work is crucial in determining how we bridge the gap of financial inclusion in the context of today’s challenges and those that will emerge in the future,” said Anammah. “I truly look forward to working closely with CGAP’s CEO, Sophie Sirtaine, and operational team and all CGAP members in shaping and implementing CGAP’s strategy in the coming years.”

In addition, four new members have joined the Executive Committee:

  • Nathalie Gabala, Regional Director of West, Central and North Africa at the Mastercard Foundation
  • María Paula Arregui, Sr VP and COO of MercadoPago, the largest digital payment platform available to consumers and businesses in Latin America
  • Sandra Louiszoon, Policy Officer, Sustainable Economic Development Department at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Shinjini Kumar, co-founder and CEO of SALT, a financial services startup in India that caters exclusively to women

The Executive Committee members whose terms continue are: Christine Poursat, Deputy Head, Financial Systems at Agence Française de Développement (AFD); Henri Dommel, Director, Financial Inclusion Practice Area at United Nations Capital development Fund (UNCDF); Mahesh Uttamchandani, Practice Manager, Financial Inclusion, Infrastructure & Access Finance at Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice of the World Bank; Ola Sahlén, Senior Program Manager, Unit for Globally Sustainable Economic Development at Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); and Sophie Sirtaine, CGAP CEO.

Arregui and Kumar join as at-large members; these members are selected for their technical expertise to provide industry perspectives on different regions and markets. All other Executive Committee members represent constituency groups (Foundations, Multilateral Development Banks, Development Finance Institutions, and Bilateral Agencies) that, in turn, represent the 30 plus leading development organizations that are members of CGAP. Starting July 1, Gabala will represent the Foundations constituency and Louiszoon will represent the Bilateral II constituency. Sahlén will continue to represent the Bilateral I constituency, Dommel will continue to represent the Multilaterals constituency, and Poursat will continue to represent the DFI constituency.

The 10-member Executive Committee, chaired by Anammah, plays a crucial role in helping shape the next five-year strategy for CGAP, which will take effect from July 2023 through June 2028, and providing strategic guidance to CGAP’s operational team in implementing the strategy.

“We are thankful for Jason’s contributions in advancing both CGAP’s mission and the broader financial inclusion agenda during a critical period of widespread economic stress accentuated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Sophie Sirtaine, CGAP CEO, on the sidelines of CGAP's annual Council of Governor's meeting. “Financial inclusion provides a development pathway for the poor and vulnerable, and with increased fragility and inequality in the world, its importance cannot be overstated. We look forward to the rich experiences and diverse perspectives that the new committee members will bring to the table and to Juliet’s leadership as we continue working on making significant progress toward empowering the poor, especially women, through financial services.”

About CGAP 

CGAP is a global partnership of more than 30 leading development organizations that works to advance the lives of poor people, especially women, through financial inclusion. Using action-oriented research, we test, learn and share knowledge intended to help build inclusive and responsible financial systems that enable poor people to capture economic opportunities, access essential services, and build resilience, including in the context of climate change. We research and experiment to establish proofs of concept and extract actionable insights that help our partners implement solutions in the marketplace and take them to scale. In short, we influence through evidence. By doing so, we hope to advance broader development goals and contribute to more prosperous, equal, resilient, sustainable economies and societies.