Cameroon’s Mercy Tembon is World Bank’s new VP and Secretary-General

By Boris Esono Nwenfor [caption id="attachment_99644" align="alignnone" width="1284"] Mercy Tembon, new World Bank VP and Secretary-General[/caption] With over thirty years of experience in Africa, Asia and Europe, the resume of Mercy Miyang Tembon speaks for itself. The Cameroonian has been appointed Vice President and Secretary-General of the World Bank, a position she will officially take on September 1 in Washington DC. Mercy Tembon is presently the World Bank's Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, a position she will relinquish at the end of August. Tembon brings to her new role deep knowledge of Bank operations, a track record in promoting economic growth and social development in several countries, and a reputation for developing strong partnerships with stakeholders. She also brings to this position a unique combination of experiences working at the country and sector levels, coupled with the extensive multicultural experience of living in different countries and working in several languages. Bidding farewell to her former aides, the new VP and Secretary-General of the World Bank said: "Honored to have been a part of Bangladesh's remarkable development journey over the past three years." Tembon joined the World Bank in 2000 as an Education Specialist and has since held leadership positions in different countries. Before that, she served as the Country Director for the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) in the Europe and Central Asia region. She also served as World Bank Country Manager for Burundi as well as for Burkina Faso in the Africa region. The news of her appointment has been welcomed in the Cameroonian space including former presidential candidate Barrister Akere Muna who on his Twitter account said: "her intellectual and professional prowess is matched only by his discretion", said the former President of the Pan-African Union lawyers. Tembon holds a PhD in Economics of Education from the University of London, England. Before joining the World Bank, she was a Research Officer at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. She has authored several publications on education, gender and economic growth issues.