Akihiko (Aki) Nishio is the World Bank Vice President of Development Finance (DFi) where he oversees strategic mobilization of Bank resources, including the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), as well as a diverse trust fund portfolio.
In this role since February 2019, Mr. Nishio focuses on furthering IDA’s innovation: leveraging its equity by blending donor contributions with internal resources and funds raised through debt markets, scaling up engagement in fragile countries, and finding new ways to promote private sector development. In 2021, Mr. Nishio led the historic early IDA20 replenishment where development partners agreed to a record package of $93 billion. He also led the successful IDA19 replenishment in 2019 during which $82 billion was committed to the world’s poorest countries.
Mr. Nishio has 30 years of experience in the World Bank combining managerial leadership, technical knowledge, operational experience, and a track record of collaboration with development partners.
Since joining the Bank as a Young Professional in 1988, Mr. Nishio has held diverse positions across the institution. Before assuming his current position, he was acting Vice President of Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI), while serving as EFI’s Director for Strategy and Operations. Prior to this position, he was Director of the IDA Department, Director for Strategy and Operations for the South Asia Region, Director of Operations of the World Bank Institute, Country Program Coordinator for China, and an economist for Indonesia in the rural development sector unit.
Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Nishio worked for the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (currently the Japan International Cooperation Agency).
A Japanese national from Yokohama, Mr. Nishio is a British Council scholar, with an M. Phil. in development from Cambridge University, a B.A. in economics from Hitotsubashi University in Japan, and an undergraduate diploma from the Université Catholique de l’Ouest in Angers, France.
