Ethiopian business mogul Mimi Alemayehu has been appointed as Senior Vice President for the Public-Private Partnership in the Humanitarian and Development Group of Mastercard.
Mastercard, the global payment service provider, announced Mimi would manage MasterCard’s social impact partnerships and financial deals by working closely with international institutions and groups.
The American citizen who was born in Ethiopia and lived in Kenya moved to the U.S., where she earned her bachelor’s degree from West Texas A&M University.
Mimi also holds a master’s degree in International Business and International Law and Development from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Mimi has 25 years of experience in development finance. In 2010 the U.S. president, Barack Obama, appointed her to lead the U.S. government’s development finance institution, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
During Her four years of stay at OPIC, Mimi managed the investment of more than $16 billion in more than 100 African countries, including the partnership with Obama’s Power Africa Initiative, a strategy to improve access to electricity in Africa.
In 2013, Forbes Magazine named Mimi among the list of “The 20 Young Power Women in Africa.”
Before joining Mastercard, Mimi was managing director and a member of the Board of Directors for Black Rhino Group, an investment platform focused on the development and acquisition of energy and infrastructure assets across Africa.