Mimi Alemayehou (born 1969) is a development finance executive who has served as Executive Vice President of the U.S.

Overseas Private Investment Corporation The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (U ...

(OPIC) and as United States Executive Director of the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

. She is the recipient of a

Distinguished Honor Award The Distinguished Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State and USAID. Similar versions of the same award existed for the former U.S. Information Agency and Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. It is presented in recogniti ...

Early life and education

Mimi Alemayehou is a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

U.S. citizen; she was born in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and spent her childhood in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

before immigrating to the United States. Alemayehou earned her bachelor's degree from

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Associat ...

“Mimi Alemayehou.”
Ethiopian Women Unleashed. Retrieved 28 July 2014. and holds a master's degree in International Business and International Law and Development from 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 bo ...

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

Career

From March 2010 to April 2014, Alemayehou served as Executive Vice President of the

(OPIC).“Africa: U.S. Private, Public Sectors Step Up to Power Challenge - Mimi Alemayehou.”
, AfricanLiberty.org. Retrieved 28 July 2014. In June 2010, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated Alemayehou to the board of directors of the

African Development Foundation The U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) is an independent U.S. government agency established by Congress in 1980 to invest directly in African grassroots enterprises and social entrepreneurs. USADF's investments aim to increase incomes, ...

. While at OPIC, Alemayehou oversaw a portfolio of approximately $16 billion invested in over 100 countries.“Mimi Alemayehou: Top African Female Executive At The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) - Part One.”
Forbes. Retrieved 28 July 2014. During this time, the agency partnered with President Obama's Power Africa Initiative, a blueprint for improving access to electricity in underdeveloped regions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

.“My Personal Journey As An Ethiopian American Working For Power Africa.”
USAID. Retrieved 28 July 2014. In March 2014, Alemayehou testified on behalf of OPIC at the

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of the United States Senate, U.S. Senate charged with leading Foreign policy of the United States, foreign-policy legi ...

hearing on the Power Africa Initiative.“Testimony of Mimi Alemayehou, Executive Vice President Overseas private Investment Corporation.”
Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate. Retrieved 28 July 2014. Prior to her position at OPIC, Alemayehou served as the United States Executive Director at the

(AfDB), where she executed board decisions on behalf of the

U.S. government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executi ...

. She received a Distinguished Honor Award from then-U.S. Secretary of Treasury

Henry Paulson Henry "Hank" Merritt Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is an American investment banker and financier who served as the 74th United States secretary of the treasury from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his role in the Department of the Treasury, Paulson ...

for her service in this role. Prior to the AfDB, she was founder and Managing Partner of Trade Links, LLC, a development consulting firm that worked with clients on

emerging markets An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or we ...

issues and on promoting African exports under the

African Growth and Opportunity Act The African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA (Title I, Trade and Development Act of 2000; P.L. 106–200) is a piece of legislation that was approved by the U.S. Congress in May 2000. The stated purpose of this legislation is to assist ...

. Previously, Alemayehou was with the

International Executive Service Corps Improving Economies for Stronger Communities is an international economic development not-for-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C. IESC was founded in 1964 by David Rockefeller, States M. Mead III, Frank Pace, Sol Linowitz, a ...

where she managed a multi-country trade project in Africa. She also served as a Director of International Regulatory Affairs at WorldSpace Corporation, a satellite

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

company focused on emerging markets. In December 2013,

Forbes Magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

featured Alemayehou on its list of "The 20 Young Power Women in Africa 2013."“The 20 Young Power Women In Africa 2013.”
Forbes. Retrieved 8 August 2014.

Other Activity

In 2015, Alemayehou signed an open letter which the

ONE Campaign ONE Campaign (styled as ONE) is an international, non-partisan, non-profit organization advocating for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. The campaigning organization uses data, grassroots ac ...

had been collecting signatures for; the letter was addressed to

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

and

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (; born 27 January 1949), sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South Africa, South African politician, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. A longstanding member of the African National Con ...

, urging them to focus on women as they serve as the head of the G7 in Germany and the AU in South Africa respectively, which will start to set the priorities in development funding before a main UN summit in September 2015 that will establish new development goals for the generation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alemayehou, Mimi Living people 1969 births West Texas A&M University alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni Ethiopian emigrants to the United States American financial businesspeople