… as Damoni Kitabire retires
The African Development Bank (AfDB)’s Zimbabwe country manager, Damoni Kitabire has retired from the regional financial institution, effective July 31, 2020.
Mr Kitabire has been with the bank for the past 13 years, seven of which were spent in Zimbabwe.
During a High-level Ministerial farewell held virtually on Thursday, 30 July 2020, the Government of Zimbabwe represented by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Dr Sibusiso Moyo as well as other Senior Officials, commended Kitabire for his contribution to the country over the years.
“Kitabire has been at the forefront in helping us find resources from the Bank to fight crises such as Cyclone Idai, Covid-19 and water borne diseases.
“We are grateful and implore the bank to find someone equal to the task (as the new country manager),” said Minister Ncube.
“He has worked professionally and tirelessly towards the country’s development agenda, and we would like to wish him well in his future endeavours,” added Minister Moyo.
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) Commissioner-General Faith Mazanhi expressed gratitude to Kitabire for being “responsive and for listening to Zimra’s call for help especially towards modernization of the revenue authority’s IT systems to enhance its domestic resource mobilisation efforts”.
Zimra together with the Parliament of Zimbabwe, Office of the Auditor General are some of the beneficiaries of the bank’s recent financial support to improve Tax and Accountability Enhancement Project in the country.
“It has been a great honour and enormous pleasure for me to serve Zimbabwe for the past years. It has been a rewarding experience as we took steps to improve the lives of Zimbabweans,” said Mr Kitabire.
He also commended the government and private sector for taking ownership of the projects financed by the bank.
The African Development Bank supports various sectors in Zimbabwe including; power, water & sanitation, agriculture, transport, social, private, financial and energy.
The current portfolio stands at US$240 million.
At the bank, Mr Kitabire earlier worked as lead economist in Tunisia, advisor to the vice president operations and resident representative Zambia Country Office.
Before joining the bank, Mr Kitabire held various positions including director of budget in Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and also worked as a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund, Washington DC.