Cheick-Oumar Sylla appointed CEO of Africa50’s Project Development Fund
Casablanca, Morocco, September 1st, 2026 – Africa50, the specialist investor in African infrastructure, today announced the appointment of Mr. Cheick-Oumar Sylla as Chief Executive Officer of its Africa50 Project Development (PD) Fund.
Mr. Sylla brings more than 30 years of leadership experience spanning infrastructure investment, project development, development finance and private sector growth across Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
He joins Africa50 from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for North Africa and the Horn of Africa, where he served as Regional Director, leading IFC’s investment and advisory operations across a broad portfolio of countries. During his career at IFC, he also served as Principal Investment Officer for Africa Infrastructure and Natural Resources and Regional Manager for the Horn of Africa, playing a key role in expanding IFC’s investment pipeline and presence in some of the continent’s most complex markets.
Prior to IFC, Mr. Sylla held senior executive positions with ContourGlobal, where he led the company’s Africa growth strategy, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and several leading African companies in infrastructure, corporate finance and business development. His career reflects a unique combination of public and private sector leadership, infrastructure execution and capital mobilisation.
Mr. Sylla’s extensive experience, strategic perspective and deep understanding of Africa’s infrastructure landscape will be invaluable as Africa50 continues building its project development platform and executing on its 2030 roadmap.
Reflecting on his appointment, Mr. Sylla said, ‘Project Development is the engine of Africa50's model. It is how we turn infrastructure needs into bankable opportunities. As the organization enters its next phase of growth, I am honoured to step into this role. I look forward to maintaining momentum and building innovative and sustainable infrastructure projects that support the continent's growth."
Commenting on the appointment, Alain Ebobissé, Group Chief Executive Officer of Africa50, said, " Project Development is central to Africa50’s next phase of growth and to our ambition to significantly scale infrastructure investment across the continent. By working alongside governments to translate their infrastructure priorities into bankable, investment-ready projects, we can build a stronger pipeline of opportunities capable of attracting African institutional capital and global investors. Cheick-Oumar brings the depth of project development, investment and public-private sector experience needed to help us scale this capability. His leadership will be instrumental as we accelerate project development from concept to bankability and ultimately bring more investable infrastructure opportunities to market.”
ENDS
About Africa50
Africa50 is a specialist investor in African infrastructure, developing, de-risking and delivering projects to unlock economic growth across the continent. It combines a proprietary continental-scale pipeline, deep governments relationships and structuring solutions to develop investment-ready projects and scalable platforms. With deep investment expertise across the energy, transport, and digital sectors, Africa50 mobilizes African and international capital to deliver sustainable financial returns while creating economy-scale impact.
Africa50 currently has 38 shareholders, comprising 33 African countries, the African Development Bank, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), Bank Al-Maghrib, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), and African Reinsurance Corporation. For more information, visit www.africa50.com.
Media Contact:
Sophie Diakité, Communications Manager, Africa50
Tel: +212 (0)6 63 51 87 45
Email: s.diakite@africa50.com
Category: Press Release