Mr. Deogratias (Deo) Zobon Delaney, 37, has been appointed the new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Liberian Bank of Development & Investment (LBDI) in Monrovia, Liberia, unimpeachable sources have informed the Daily Observer.

He replaces Mr. John B.S. Davies whose tenure expired at the end of April. 

The LBDI President and CEO is appointed by the Board of Directors consistent with Section 64.31 of the Bank’s Charter and the Prudential Regulations of the Central Bank of Liberia. In his new role, Delaney will head the bank’s Executive Management Team and serve as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board consistent with the relevant provisions of the Bank’s Charter and by-laws.

This includes, among a host of other responsibilities, providing strategic leadership, general supervision, management and administration of the vision, direction and operations of the Bank.

Mr. Delaney joins LBDI with broad international experience spanning more than 15 years in global finance, trade and commerce, and digital strategy for financial institutions.

He holds a Master’s in Global Business with academic distinction from the University of Oxford Said Business School.

At Oxford, his thesis was awarded academic distinction for its analysis on the role and relevance of market institutions in sustaining growth of industries in emerging markets.

Before that, Mr. Delaney earned a Master’s in Human Rights and Conflict Affairs at the Institute of Law and Politics of the Scuola Superiore S’Anna di Pisa in Italy.

At the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Mr. Delaney completed post-graduate studies in Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance.

A member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), Mr. Delaney worked as a strategy, management and technology consultant at Accenture in Amsterdam before joining LBDI. As a Practice Lead at Accenture, he oversaw digital transformation strategy for financial institutions and multinationals.

He has experience working in various posts across the United Nations system, including UNMIL, the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) headquarters in Bonn, Germany, and UNICEF’s headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.

He has also worked at the European Commission External Action Service - Common Security and Defense policy (CSDP) and the British Chambers of Commerce, where he led the European Union and international trade team. In that role, Mr. Delaney played a key role in negotiations of the largest free trade deal in the world: the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), leading the EU Nordic public consultations.

Prior to Accenture, Mr. Delaney worked at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing, China, managing the institution’s financial services outsourcing portfolio covering treasury and controller operations.

At AIIB, He supported the issuance of the Bank’s first USD global bond, raising $3.5 billion USD. He also worked on the team that launched Renminbi (RMB)-denominated bond issuance, raising $500 million USD; and worked with the bank’s External Fund Management Program (EMP) for liquid asset management of $6 billion USD.

Mr. Delaney also supported Liberia’s accession to the AIIB.

During the pandemic, he was appointed to the World Bank Global Steering Committee COVAX Traceability Expert Advisory Board, leading Accenture’s efforts on the design and build of the Global Trust Repository for COVID vaccines.

At UNICEF, Mr. Delaney headed the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization (GAVI) co-financing program covering 76 countries.

A contributing writer to the Huffington Post, Mr. Delaney has written tens of articles and co-authored scores of publications and white papers on business, free trade, technology, investment protection and sustainable investment.

Throughout his career, Mr. Delaney has chaired numerous international conferences on a range of subjects in global finance and trade.

For leisure, Mr. Delaney enjoys biking, running, singing and traveling.