Dili, July 21, 2017 —The World Bank’s new Country Representative for Timor-Leste says the coming years present great opportunities, as the country faces important choices on investments in infrastructure, education and health that will shape the country’s development.
Macmillan (Mac) Anyanwu, a Nigerian national, will serve as the World Bank’s new Country Representative for Timor-Leste, overseeing US$90 million of investments across infrastructure, agriculture, health, education and disaster risk management, together with essential analytical work supporting the government of Timor-Leste’s development program.
Mr. Anyanwu commended the government and people of Timor-Leste for making significant progress in key areas within a short period, notably on peace and democracy, rebuilding public institutions, prudent management of oil revenue and investments in infrastructure.
“It is very exciting to lead the World Bank’s engagement with Timor-Leste at this crucial time, with citizens preparing to vote in national parliamentary elections,” said Mr. Anyanwu. “The coming months and years present unique opportunities to further strengthen the World Bank’s partnership with Timor-Leste, and to broaden the policy dialogue to areas with more potential to accelerate development.”
Mr. Anyanwu brings almost two decades of development policy and program management experience to Timor-Leste. He joined the World Bank Group in 2002 as an Operations Analyst and has since worked on governance and public sector management operations in Africa, served as Country Representative for the Kingdom of Lesotho from 2011-2014, and as Senior Country Officer for Afghanistan. In 2016 Mr. Anyanwu was selected as one of nine staff to join the World Bank’s Agile Bank Fellowship Program, which is fostering innovation, efficiency and leadership within the institution.
“One of the most immediate and important pieces of work the World Bank will be delivering for Timor-Leste is a thorough analysis to identify the biggest development challenges the country faces and critical pathways towards reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity,” said Mr. Anyanwu. “This work will help guide the World Bank’s new Country Partnership Framework; the key document that will guide our support to the government of Timor-Leste over the next four years.”
Since 2000, the World Bank has assisted the government of Timor-Leste to rebuild national infrastructure, stabilize the economy and strengthen government institutions. In 2017 this work includes support for improved service delivery in education and nutrition, the construction of climate-resilient roads and transport infrastructure, as well as support for the development of non-oil economic development opportunities.
For more information about the World Bank Group’s work in Timor-Leste, please visit: www.worldbank.org/tl
