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Amadou Hott
Amadou Hott (born 25 October 1972) is the former Special Envoy of the President of the African Development Bank for the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa. He is currently candidate for the Presidency of the African Development Bank. He is a Senegalese economist and investment banker, and served as Minister of Economy, Planning and International Cooperation of Senegal in the Fourth Sall government from April 2019 to September 2022.[1] He was formerly the Vice President of the African Development Bank's Power, Energy, Green Growth and Climate Change Complex, a position he held from November 2016 until his Senegalese government appointment.[2] Hott's career has spanned more than 20 years in areas including structured finance, sovereign fund management, investment banking, fundraising, infrastructure and the development of integrated energy solutions.[3] Early life and educationHott was born in Thiaroye Gare and spent his youth in the suburbs of Dakar. He completed his primary and secondary education at Khaliy Madiakhaté Kala primary school in Guédiawaye (formerly Ecole 25) and Pikine Est secondary school, respectively. In 1992, he obtained his baccalaureate in Maths at the Seydina Limamoulaye high school in Guédiawaye.[2] After graduating from high school, Hott enrolled at the Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in economics. He then completed a postgraduate degree in financial markets finance and banking management at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University and subsequently enrolled in a master's degree program in applied mathematics at New York University (NYU) through an academic exchange program.[4] Career in the private sectorHott started his career at Société Générale in New York before joining BNP Paribas in London as an investment banker. He then worked at the Dutch bank ABN AMRO where he focused on the African continent.[5] His areas of intervention spanned from risk management to mergers and acquisitions and from advisory to fundraising and financing. In 2006, Hott left Europe to settle in Dubai where he worked at the Millennium Finance Corporation as a Managing Director working in mergers and acquisitions and financing for the African continent. Two years later, Hott became Managing Director of UBA Capital, the Investment Banking arm of the UBA Group in Lagos.[6] In 2011, he became the wealth manager for Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote.[7] Career in the public sectorIn 2012, Hott was appointed Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall, in charge of financing and investment issues, and then chairman of the Board of Directors of AIBD (Blaise Diagne International Airport).[8] In September 2013, he became the first Managing Partner of Senegal's Sovereign Wealth Fund (FONSIS), a new organization he was tasked with building. His management practices during the fund’s launch sparked controversy. After the Senegalese newspaper Libération questioned the structure’s advertising expenses before it was operational, President Macky Sall expressed his anger over the 3 million CFA francs housing allowance that Amadou Hott allegedly wanted to grant himself in addition to his 5 million CFA francs salary, as well as the 3 million CFA francs salary he allocated to his assistant.[9] In 2013, he was accused of being involved in the scandal surrounding the sale of Senegal’s third mobile telephony license to Sudatel, which allegedly involved the payment of 20 billion CFA francs in hidden commissions.[10][11][12] These accusations were based on Amadou Hott’s inclusion among the recipients of emails exchanged between various parties involved in the affair. The Senegalese Presidency denied the claims made in the Senegalese press, stating that Amadou Hott was, at the time, a financial advisor to Zain, a Kuwaiti telecommunications company that was competing with Sudatel for the license.[13] His continued ties with Aliko Dangote and the potential conflicts of interest arising from them also raised questions after Amadou Hott attended the signing of an agreement in 2013 between the heirs of Serigne Saliou Mbacké and representatives of Dangote SA.[14] Hott became vice-president in charge of the African Development Bank's activities in the areas of Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth for both public and private sectors in November 2016.[15] During his tenure, the Bank increased investments in renewable energy. In 2017, 100% of the investments in production were in renewable energies. Hott launched programs including “Desert to Power,” the Africa Financial Alliance on Climate Change and the “Green Baseload” under the SEFA 2.0 (Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa) program.[16] Minister of the Economy, Planning and CooperationSince April 2019, Hott has been Minister of the Economy, Planning and Cooperation of Senegal. As minister, he is responsible for the preparation and implementation of economic and financial policy, development planning, population, statistics, international cooperation and developing private sector and public-private partnerships.[1] At the end of 2021, his name was mentioned as a potential candidate for Prime Minister. However, his consecutive electoral defeats the following year led to his departure from the government during the reshuffle on September 17, 2022.[17][18] Defeats in Municipal and Legislative Elections in Yeumbeul SudAmadou Hott attempted to get elected in the local elections of January 2022, running for the mayoralty of Yeumbeul Sud with the ruling coalition Benno Bokk Yakaar. The campaign in Yeumbeul was marked by significant tensions. Amadou Hott faced accusations of parachuting.[19] Electoral violence erupted, for which Amadou Hott blamed the “nervis” of his opponent, the incumbent mayor Bara Gaye.[20] A photo of Amadou Hott holding a gris-gris during his campaign also sparked a controversy on social media, which was widely covered in the Senegalese press.[21][22] On January 23, 2022, Amadou Hott lost the election with a deficit of 3,809 votes out of 21,071 voters and conceded defeat to the incumbent mayor.[23] He was considered one of the “major losers of the presidential majority,” and his defeat was seen as a setback for his ambitions to become Prime Minister.[24][25] His intention to run again in the Yeumbeul constituency for the legislative elections of July 31, 2022, despite his local election defeat, faced opposition from militants of the presidential party, the Alliance for the Republic, who argued that he was “unknown in Yeumbeul Sud” and “a good minister but poor in politics.”[26][27][28] A few weeks before the election, the Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition refused to nominate Amadou Hott as its official candidate for Yeumbeul Sud.[29] Amadou Hott lost the legislative election held on July 31. His opponent, Bara Gaye, accused him of electoral fraud, claiming that he transferred voters from other communes to Yeumbeul Sud.[30] Departure from GovernmentAmadou Hott was not reappointed during the ministerial reshuffle on September 17, 2022, due to his electoral defeats. He left the Ministry of Economy, where he was succeeded by Oulimata Sarr.[31] In December of the same year, Amadou Hott became a special envoy of the president of the African Development Bank.[32] Following Macky Sall’s announcement that he would not seek a third term, Amadou Hott was mentioned among the potential candidates to succeed the outgoing president.[33] AfDB presidential candidacyIn November 2024, Amadou Hott officially launched his candidacy for the presidency of the AfDB.[34] Other activities
Awards & volunteeringHott was nominated Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2012.[37] Since 2015, Hott has been a member of the Selection Committee for the Tony Elumelu Foundation which supports the $100 million African entrepreneurship program.[38] As a volunteer for the United Nations Development Programme TOKTEN (Transfer of knowledge through expatriate nationals) programme, Hott was a lecturer in finance at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis Senegal in 2004 and 2005.[39] External links
References
Information related to Amadou Hott |
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