Jean-Michel Severino (born 6 September 1957) is a French banker with particular interest in

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. He has held senior positions in the World Bank, and served for more than nine years as the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of France's government agency for international development, AFD. Since 2011 he has been CEO of an investment group, Investisseurs et Partenaires (I&P), and a board member for several private companies.

Education

* 1984 :

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President of France, President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the Constitu ...

* 1980 :

Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

* 1979 : Master of Science in Economics, Paris IX Dauphine University * 1978 :

Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris ESCP Business School (french: École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris) is a French business school and ''grande école'' founded in Paris and based across Europe with campuses in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin, and Warsaw. It is consist ...

and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

( Université Paris I Sorbonne)

Career

Severino served as Director of France's international development agency -

Agence française de développement The French Development Agency (french: Agence française de développement, AFD) is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development. This pub ...

(AFD). He was appointed in 2001 for a three-year term, renewed in 2004 and 2007. He was previously Director in charge of international development at the French Ministry of Cooperation, then Vice President for Asia at 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 2006,

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

appointed Severino to a

High-level Panel on United Nations Systemwide Coherence On 16 February 2006, the Secretary-General announced the formation of a new, high-level panel to explore how the United Nations system could work more coherently and effectively across the world in the areas of development, humanitarian assistanc ...

, which was set up to explore how 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 ...

system could work more coherently and effectively across the world in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment. In October 2007, he launched the blog Ideas4development alongside

Josette Sheeran Josette Sheeran (born 12 June 1954) is an American non-profit executive and diplomat who served in the United States Department of State. Sheeran serves as the seventh president and CEO of Asia Society since June 10, 2013. Sheeran was also the Un ...

Donald Kaberuka Donald P. Kaberuka (born 5 October 1951) is a Rwandan economist and was the president of the African Development Bank from September 2005 until September 2015. Early life and education Kaberuka was born in Byumba, Rwanda. He studied at the Unive ...

, Kemal Dervis,

Pascal Lamy Pascal Lamy (born 8 April 1947) is a French political consultant and businessman. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2013 for 8 years. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lamy ...

Abdou Diouf Abdou Diouf ( ; Serer: ; born 7 September 1935)Biography at Socialist Party website

and
Supachai Panitchpakdi Supachai Panitchpakdi ( th, ศุภชัย พานิชภักดิ์, , ; born 30 May 1946 in Bangkok, Thailand) is a Thai politician and professor. He was Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from ...
, in which the authors share their visions, doubts and hopes for international development. Severino regularly publishes articles in the French and international press.

Positions
* 2001-2010 : CEO - Agence française de développement, Paris. President of PROPARCO, Paris. * 2000 : General Inspector of Finances - Ministry of the Economy and Finances, Paris * 1997-2000 : Vice-president for Asia - World Bank, Washington * 1996-1997 : Director for Central Europe - World Bank, Washington * 1994-1996 : Director in charge of international development - Ministry of Cooperation and Development, Paris * 1990-1994 : Chief of geographic coordination - Ministère Ministry of Cooperation and Development, Paris * 1988-1990 : Technical advisor for economic and financial affairs - Cabinet of the Minister of Cooperation and Development, Jacques Pelletier * 1984 : Inspector of Finances, Ministry of the Economy and Finances, Paris

Career in the private sector
*
Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of t ...
, Member of the Board of Directors * EBI SA Groupe Ecobank, Chairman of the Board of Directors *
Orange S.A. Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
, Independent Member of the Board of Directors * PhiTrust Impact Investors, Member of the Board of Directors * Fondation Grameen Crédit Agricole, Member of the Board of Directors Severino was a close ally of
Emmanuel Faber Emmanuel Faber (born 22 January 1964) is a French businessman. He was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Danone, and the Chairman of the Board of directors. He was subsequently appointed Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Bo ...
in moving Danone toward a greater concern with environmental and social priorities as against immediately commercial ones: a project that resulted in the ouster of Faber by activist shareholders in March 2021.

Publications
* "The End of ODA : Death and Rebirth of a Global Public Policy", written with Olivier Ray. Center for Global Development Working Paper, March 2009. * "Il est urgent que l'Europe développe une vision planétaire", article published in Le Figaro, June 2009. * "Gouvernance mondiale - Illusoire quête du Léviathan ? ", written with Olivier Ray and published in La gouvernance démocratique, un nouveau paradigme pour le développement ? (Karthala, 2008). * L'Aide Publique au Développement, book written with avec Olivier Charnoz (2007), Editions La Découverte, Paris. * "Le secteur privé, un levier du développement à ne pas négliger", article by Claude Bébéar, Henri Proglio, Franck Riboud et Jean-Michel Severino, published in Le Figaro, December 2008. * "De l'ordre global à la justice globale : vers une politique mondiale de régulation", tomes I et II, articles written with Olivier Charnoz, En temps Réel, Cahiers n°33 et 36, May and November 2008. * "Heart of darkness", article written with Donald Kaberuka and published in Emerging Markets, October 2008. * "Feeding Africa", article by Jean-Michel Severino and Jacques Diouf, published in the International Herald Tribune, Octobre 2007. * "There's much ground to make up, but the reform of EU aid is now under way", article published in Europe's World, Septembre 2007. * "Solving the water equation", article by Jean-Michel Severino and Mikhael Gorbachev, distributed by Project Syndicate in June 2007. * "Cultivating Energy", article distributed by Projet Syndicate, December 2006. Most of Severino's publications are posted on the website of the Agence française de développement
Articles2007Articles2008

References

biography at ideas4development.

biography at
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 ...
High-Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence. {{DEFAULTSORT:Severino, Jean-Michel 1957 births Living people French bankers École nationale d'administration alumni Paris Dauphine University alumni Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Officiers of the Légion d'honneur