Secretary general of the African, Caribbean Pacific group of countries Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas has announced the appointments of new assistant secretaries general of the association.
The appointments came at the end of a competitive, regional search process that involved many candidates from four of the six regions of the ACP group.
The new appointees are: Nthisana Matlhogonolo Philips of Botswana (Southern Africa) as assistant secretary-general, head of the department of administration, finance and human resources; Achille Bassilekin III from Cameroon (Central Africa) as assistant secretary-general, head of the department of sustainable economic development and trade; Michele Dominique Raymond of Haiti (Caribbean) as assistant secretary-general, head of the department of political affairs and human development; and Paulo S Kautoke from Tonga (Pacific) as assistant secretary-general, head of the department of macro-economics, development finance and intra-ACP programming.
In announcing the appointments, Dr Chambas pointed to the qualities of his new management in terms of professional background and competence, age and gender diversity. For the first time in the history of the ACP, two women have been appointed as assistant secretaries-general.
Ghanaian Dr Chambas was the president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for eight years before taking over as head of the ACP Group on 1 March from Papua New Guinean Sir John Kaputin, who had held the post for the previous five years.
The 79-strong group of states has been an important player in EU banana import regime negotiations.
