Cristina Duarte (born 2 September 1962) is a Cape Verdean politician who served as the Cape Verdean Minister of Finance, Planning and Public Administration from 2006 to 2016. Since 2020, she has been serving as Special Adviser on Africa to United Nations Secretary‑General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

Early life and education

Duarte was born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

in the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

capital (then also center of the Portuguese Empire). Her father Manuel Duarte was a Freedom Fighter in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

and Cape Verde. She later studied at a primary school in Angola up to the age of twelve. Later, the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

of April 25, 1974 took place which ended the Portuguese dictatorial regime of Estado Novo. Not long after, she attended a high school in Cape Verde. Duarte later moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

where she studied in economics at the

Technical University of Lisbon The Technical University of Lisbon (UTL; pt, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, ) was a Portuguese public university. It was created in 1930 in Lisbon, as a confederation of preexisting schools, and comprised the faculties and institutes of veter ...

. She is fluent in Portuguese, Capeverdean Creole, English, French and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Early career

Duarte served as director general of the Bureau of Studies of the planning of the Ministry of Agricultural Development from 1986 to 1991. In the early 1990s, she lived in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and got her MBA in the area of World Finances and Emerging Capital Markets at the

Thunderbird School of Global Management Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University (or simply Thunderbird) is a global management school in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1946 as an independent, private institution, it was acquired by Arizona State University ( ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Political career

Duarte became Minister of Finances, Planning and Public Administration in 2006 as member of the

PAICV The African Party of Independence of Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde, PAICV) is a democratic socialist political party in Cape Verde. It was formerly a Marxist–Leninist communist party and the sole legal par ...

. She gained a professional experience mainly in the Director General in the Study Cabinet of the Planning of the Ministry of Agricultural Development with the Consultant to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

on Agriculture and Food, the

UN Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human deve ...

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

. In the private sector, she worked at Citigroup/Citibank (commonly as Citi), Since 2006, she worked with the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the IMF.

Career in international organizations

In 2014, Duarte was considered in the magazine, ''Financial Afrik'', one of 100 most influential persons in Africa. In 2015, she was one of eight candidates for the president of the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...

; the post would be taken by

Akinwumi Adesina Akinwumi "Akin" Adesina is a Nigerian economist, who is currently serving as the President of the African Development Bank. He previously served as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Until his appointment as Minister in 2010 ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Duarte currently serves as a member of the

United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration The United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) is an expert body that meets under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council in order to discuss and find ways to support the work of the Council by pro ...

and High-Level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs, President

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

’s Advisory Committee on African Union Reforms, the Board of the

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an organisation that seeks to transform African agriculture from a subsistence model to strong businesses that improve the livelihoods of the continent’s farming households. AGRA is headquarter ...

(AGRA) and the Board of the Institute of African Leadership for Sustainable Development at the UONGOZI Institute. In 2020, United Nations Secretary‑General

appointed Duarte as his Special Adviser on Africa. In that capacity, Duarte succeeded

Bience Gawanas Bience Philomina Gawanas (born 1956) is a Namibian lawyer. She was appointed in January 2018 as Special Adviser on Africa for the United Nations after having served as Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union Assembly of Heads of St ...

.Ms. Cristina Duarte of the Republic of Cabo Verde - Special Adviser on Africa

, press release of July 2, 2020.

Personal life

Duarte is married and has a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duarte, Cristina 1962 births Living people Politicians from Lisbon Finance ministers of Cape Verde Women government ministers of Cape Verde Female finance ministers