Leadership - Former Directors - badea

Established Pursuant to the Resolution of the
6th Arab Summit Conference held
in Algiers on 28 November 1973

About BADEA

Former Directors

Former Directors General

H.E. Dr. Chedly AYARI,
Director General, (1975-1988)

Country: Tunisia

Former Tunisian politician, economist, diplomat and university professor, the late H.E. Dr. Chedly Ayari served in several ministerial positions prior to being elected BADEA Director General, including Minister of Finance. Afterwards, his career path led him to becoming Tunisia’s President of the Central Bank. In 2014, he was given the prestigious Tatweej Excellency Award, celebrating the outstanding work of public, private institutions and leaders from the MENA region. As President, his multiple achievements include the Bank’s first capital increases/injections the implementation of five-year plans approved by the Board of Governors and governing the Bank’s strategic direction, the construction of the Bank’s headquarters in Sudan, and the development of a very strong Arab-African solidarity branding to help the newly established Bank gain a solid reputation on the international scene through powerful media campaigns on Arab-African cooperation.

H.E. Ahmed Harti El Wardi, Director General, (1988-1997)

Country: Morocco

Former official in the Ministry of Finance and Agriculture in the Kingdom of Morocco, the late H.E. Ahmed Harti El Wardi held multiple strategic diplomatic roles and board positions throughout his career within international organizations, including on BADEA’s first Board of Directors in the 70’s, but also with African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank among others.
He was elected second Director General of the Bank in 1988. Known for his remarkable integrity-based leadership, humility and sense of rigour, he played an instrumental role in restructuring BADEA by putting in place standardized work methodologies aligned with international institutions, introducing a new integrated communications system via satellite and establishing strong liquidity management, investment and governance policies.

H.E. Medhat Sami Lotfy, Director General, (1997-2002)

Country: Egypt

H.E. Medhad S. Lotfty is an eminent legal expert and international civil servant who served BADEA for 20 years prior to becoming its third Director General. The last positions held at the Bank, prior to his election as Director General, were Director of the Legal Department, Secretary of the Board of Governors and Directors, and Deputy Director of BADEA. Prior to joining the Bank, he worked as a Counsellor at the Cairo Court of Appeal (equivalent to Undersecretary of the Ministry). During his mandate, H.E. Medhat Sami Lotfy placed a special emphasis on investing in high social impact projects empowering women in rural areas, promoting youth education in Sub-Saharan Africa and providing clean drinking water to local populations.

H.E. Abdelaziz Khelef, Director General, (2002-2015)

Country: Algeria

Former Algerian international civil servant at the Islamic Development Bank and official in the Algerian Ministry of Industry and Energy, H.E. Abdelaziz Khelef has served in several ministerial positions in his country, including Minister of Trade and Minister of Finance, prior to being elected BADEA’s fourth Director General. As Director General of the Bank, Where he was committed to improving lives in Africa and increasing the means and resources of the Bank in this respect. As a result, a historical 50% capital increase took place in 2013, leading to increasing the Bank’s subscribed capital to USD 4.2 bn. Social impact and sustainability were also at the core of his strategy: through which several strategic clean energy dams and education projects were funded, among others. After BADEA, hiof s career at the service of his country led him to occupy several official positions in Algeria as Advisor to the President on Economic and amp; Finance Affairs. In 2021 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Algerian President, H.E. Abdelmadjid Tebboune.