As CEO and co-founder of IDCNx, Simplice G. Zouhonbi has exemplified the technical skills, commitment and innovation apparent in all of our work since this organization’s inception. He brings with him 25 years of experience in advisory and analytical roles across multiple aspects of international development and has worked in more than 25 countries including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, EU, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morroco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao-Tome, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, and USA. He has worked in both senior management and economic advisory roles to assist low income, post-conflict, and middle-income countries with far-ranging issues such as:
- National Development strategies, and growth and poverty reduction programs.
- Inclusive growth and poverty reduction
- Macroeconomic and fiscal management
- Entrepreneurship, youth employment and private sector development
- Policy and structural reforms, budget support and aid coordination
- Governance reforms, sustainable development and the 2030 agenda
- Trade and regional Integration
- Development projects design and management
- Public administration and institutions capacity
- Peace Building and Diaspora
Working as a lead advisor to the UN and the Government of Madagascar in 2015, Simplice Zouhonbi played a pivotal role in the preparation and implementation of the post- crisis National Development Strategy in 2015 and 2016. His input led to the development of flagship reports on inclusive growth, SDGs and development prospects within the country.
- Simplice Zouhonbi played a leading role in AfDB policy dialogue on fragility and development in Central Africa (CAR, DRC and Congo) and Togo.
- As a key member of an African Development Bank team managing $1 billion dollars in concessional financing in post-conflict countries in 2009-2012, he helped design and implement numerous related development projects and technical assistance programs in both Western and Central Africa.
- At the World Bank, he worked on development lending operations and provided advisory and technical assistance to Governments, and participated in a dozen World Bank-IMF joint missions in several countries, including Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Togo and Sao Tome. He was also a member of the World Bank team which designed the first Regional Integration Assistance Strategy for West Africa in 2003.
- At DCGTX, the strategy and advisory consulting firm of the Government at the Presidency of the Republic of Ivory Coast, he led sector-specific studies on economic reforms and private sector competitiveness, and the technical organization of the first international investment forum “Invest in Ivory Coast”.
- He published several papers on economic policy and development issues, including a policy research paper on “The Economic Community of West African States: fiscal revenue implications of the prospective economic partnership agreement with the European Union” in 2007 at the World Bank. His most recent research paper focuses on economic growth and convergence in Africa and Asia.
Simplice Zouhonbi holds Masters degrees in Macroeconomics, Development Economics, and Economic Policy Management from the University of Clermont Ferrand, CERDI. He has also studied international economics while performing post-graduate research on regulatory reforms and the financial sector at the University of Paris Dauphine. He completed the Executive Leadership Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and is fluent in both English and French.
Address in Washington DC, USA P.O. Box 27720 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington DC 20038 Tel: (1) 571 594 9686 Email: IDCNx@IDCNx.org www.IDCNx.org.
