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The International Monetary Fund has announced that Abebe Aemro Selassie, the Ethiopian economist who has led its African Department for nearly a decade, will retire on May 1, 2026. The statement was issued Tuesday by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
Abebe has directed the Fund’s work with forty-five countries across sub-Saharan Africa since 2016—an era shaped by overlapping global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, surging inflation, commodity instability, and shifting global trade patterns.
Georgieva praised his leadership in expanding IMF financial support to African member states, strengthening capacity-building programmes, and mobilising resources for countries facing conflict and fragility. Under his tenure, the IMF also created a new Executive Board chair for Africa, increasing the region’s representation and influence in Fund decision-making.
She noted that Abebe pushed forward internal reforms, modernising the department and improving collaboration across IMF teams on debt restructuring initiatives, the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, and broader economic resilience strategies.
Abebe joined the IMF in 1994 and has served in a range of senior roles over more than 30 years, including Deputy Director of the African Department, mission chief for South Africa and Portugal, and senior resident representative in Uganda. His portfolio has also included work on major IMF programmes in Turkey, Thailand, Romania, and Estonia, alongside responsibility for policy review and economic research.
The IMF has yet to name a successor.
