IMF Survey, Volume 31, Issue 10

Earlier this year, Abdoulaye Bio-Tchané took over as Director of the IMF's African Department. Before joining the IMF staff, he was Benin's Minister of Finance and Economy. He began his career as an economist in the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), where he rose to become Director of the Economic and Monetary Survey Department. He recently returned from a one-week trip with IMF Managing Director Horst Köhler to Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, and Tanzania. At the end of the trip, on May 3, Köhler announced that the IMF plans to establish five regional centers in Africa to strengthen locally based technical assistance and training.