Abdoulaye Kone

Career Overview

Name] is the Chief Operating Officer of CAMPEA, bringing more than two decades of executive leadership and operational expertise across Africa’s financial sector. His career reflects a consistent trajectory of strategic innovation, institutional growth, and the structuring of transformative financial transactions for both regional and multinational stakeholders.

He began his professional journey as a Financial Analyst at BICICI (BNP Paribas) in Abidjan, where he was responsible for financial analysis and credit risk assessment. His early contributions focused on improving credit processes and portfolio monitoring, laying a foundation for his later specialization in structured finance. He then advanced to Standard Chartered Bank, where he spent over a decade in progressively senior roles across West and Central Africa. As Senior Relationship Manager in Côte d’Ivoire, he managed corporate portfolios and structured syndicated financings, helping to reduce non-performing loans while strengthening client relationships. In Senegal, as Risk Director at Banque Atlantique, he was instrumental in establishing the bank’s risk management framework during its inception, ensuring regulatory compliance and portfolio resilience.

At Standard Chartered Bank in The Gambia and Cameroon, he served as Corporate Bank Director and later as Regional Director for Trade and Commodities, where he structured complex project financings and syndicated trade facilities for exporters and traders. His tenure in Botswana as Credit Officer was marked by improving operational efficiency and successfully leading the integration of credit administration functions. These roles collectively equipped him with a pan-African outlook and a deep technical understanding of both corporate banking and trade finance.

In 2010, he joined Access Bank in Lagos as Assistant General Manager, where he co-led the “One Bank” project, centralizing the management of the group’s large corporate clients and improving service delivery. Shortly after, he was appointed Assistant General Manager and Head of Business Development in Abidjan, where he defined the bank’s operational strategy, built client portfolios across corporate, SME, and institutional segments, and enhanced customer experience through optimized banking value chains. His leadership contributed significantly to growth in deposits, loan books, and net operating income.

From 2012, he advanced to Ecobank, where he served first in Dakar as Regional Corporate and Trade Manager, implementing a regional account strategy that achieved more than 25% growth in portfolio and revenues, while expanding Ecobank’s multinational network in the UEMOA zone. Later, as Director of Corporate Banking at Ecobank’s headquarters in Lomé, he managed and expanded a large corporate and institutional portfolio, securing new multinational partnerships, growing revenue, and coordinating trade corridors across Africa.

His longest tenure was with Afreximbank, where he held progressively senior roles over more than six years. As Regional Director of Operations for Anglophone West Africa, based in Abuja, he oversaw banking operations across seven countries, during which time the balance sheet grew from USD 2.5 billion to USD 6 billion, and annual profits nearly doubled. He developed corporate and institutional client portfolios, coordinated landmark industrial projects such as the African Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC) and the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE), and contributed to multiple capital-raising operations with shareholders, states, and corporates. Later, as Senior Manager, Client Coverage in Cairo, he coordinated correspondent banking across the continent under the AFTRAF program, successfully achieving a loan volume of USD 3.6 billion, while also serving on the project team that created the African Energy Bank.

In 2023, he founded Eburny Financial Consulting in Abidjan, where as Founder and Managing Director, he advises corporates and institutions on fundraising, restructuring, performance optimization, and strategic innovation. This entrepreneurial endeavor reinforced his position as a trusted advisor to Africa’s corporate sector, supporting companies navigating complex capital markets.

Now, as COO of CAMPEA, he draws on this wealth of pan-African banking and finance experience to lead the association’s strategic operations, programs, and external partnerships. His mandate includes building institutional systems, supporting member engagement, and advancing CAMPEA’s mission to mobilize private capital and strengthen investment ecosystems across Central Africa.

He holds an MBA from ESCA in Abidjan, a Business English certification from the University of Brighton, and is completing the Senior Executive Program – Africa at Harvard Business School.