Antoinette Monsio Sayeh (born 12 July 1958 in

Monrovia, Liberia Monrovia () is the administrative capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liberia’s total population. It ...

) is a

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

n economist and Deputy Managing Director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

(IMF). Sayeh served as the director of the African Department at the IMF from July 14, 2008, to August 31, 2016. She also was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the

Center for Global Development The Center for Global Development (CGD) is a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., and London that focuses on international development. History It was founded in November 2001 by former senior U.S. official Edward W. Scott, directo ...

Life

Sayeh is a graduate of

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

and

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. Fletcher is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations. As of 2017, the student b ...

, where she received her MA and Ph.D. in International Economic Relations. Sayeh has also worked for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

as country director for

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, and

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

and worked on public finance management and civil service reform in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. According to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, Sayeh "delighted international financial institutions" as Liberia's Minister of Finance. Prior to her term at the IMF, she served from 2006 to 2008 as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the cabinet of Liberian president

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Eugenia Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Sirleaf was born in Monrovia to a Gol ...

. Sayeh was the second woman in Liberia's history to hold that position, the first being Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She said her main tasks were reducing the high national debt, organising the state banking and financial system, and fighting

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. From 2007, Sayeh was a member of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

’s High Level Advisory Council on Women's Economic Empowerment, which was chaired by Danny Leipziger and

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (born 21 November 1942) is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 1965. Early life and career Wieczorek-Zeul (pronounced ''VEE‐choreck TSOIL'') began her career as a teacher 1965� ...

. During the legislative period, Antoinette Sayeh moved to the management of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Director of the Africa Department in July 2008; in this role, she is now one of the most influential African politicians in the world.

Honours

awarded the ''Lucretia Mott Award'' for

Comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

* The

government of Niger The government of Niger is the apparatus through which authority functions and is exercised: the governing apparatus of Nigerien state. The current system of governance, since the Constitution of 25 November 2010, is termed the Constitution of N ...

expressed its gratitude for the support with a ceremony in April 2007

Literature

* Antoinette Monsio Sayeh: ''Monetary dependence, payments disequilibria, and fiscal policy in a small, open, low-income economy: experiments with a hybrid model of Liberia''. Ed.: Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Boston 1985, p. 383 (English, habilitation thesis). * N.N.: ''Interview with Liberian Finance Minister Antoinette M. Sayeh: S “tick to principles”''. In: Development and Cooperation. Volume 7/8, 2008,

ISSN An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit to uniquely identify a periodical publication (periodical), such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs a ...

br>0723-6980
pp. 276–278 (English).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayeh, Antoinette 1958 births Living people Swarthmore College alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni Politicians from Monrovia 21st-century Liberian politicians 21st-century Liberian women politicians Female finance ministers Women government ministers of Liberia Ministers of finance of Liberia Center for Global Development