Mercy Miyang Tembon will start her role as World Bank’s new Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan on Monday.
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 extensive multicultural experience of living in different countries and working in several languages.
Tembon holds a PhD in Economics of Education from the University of London, England.
A Cameroonian national, Tembon joined the World Bank in 2000 as an Education Specialist and has since held leadership positions in different countries.
“Bangladesh has tremendous development experience to share with the world: it has cut extreme poverty in half in record time and is among the few developing countries to achieve gender parity in school enrollment," Tembon said.
"I have been following the country’s remarkable progress over the years and I look forward to working closely with the government and people of Bangladesh to address remaining challenges,” said Tembon.
“The World Bank remains a committed partner to support Bangladesh attain its vision of upper middle-income country status.”
Tembon will lead the implementation of the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework in support of the development priorities of Bangladesh and Bhutan.
She will also lead the policy dialogue with government counterparts, civil society and other stakeholders to achieve country development goals.
Currently, Bangladesh has the largest IDA program of World Bank totalling $12.6 billion.