Speakers & Moderators

An expert in economics and a deep connoisseur of international financial institutions, Rémy Rioux has held high-level positions throughout a career dedicated to development and Africa. After serving as Chief of Staff to French Minister of the Economy and Finance Pierre Moscovici, he was appointed by Laurent Fabius as Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he coordinated the finance agenda for the French presidency of COP21, up to the final negotiation of the Paris Climate Agreement. In 2016, Rémy Rioux took the helm of the French Development Agency (AFD), which saw its mandate expanded and resources increased. He was reappointed in 2019 for a second term, and again in 2022 for a third term. In 2017, Rémy Rioux was elected president of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC), a group bringing together the world’s 26 largest national and regional development banks, one of the most significant public financiers for development and climate. He held this position until October 2023, when the Club elected the presidents of Bancoldex (Colombian public bank) and BOAD (West African development bank) as co-presidents for a two-year term. He is now the vice-president. In November 2020, Rémy Rioux hosted the first edition of the Finance in Common Summit in Paris, which brought together 530 public development banks from around the world, forming a global coalition to collectively evolve their strategies, investment models, activities, and operational methods to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. The Finance in Common Summit is held annually on a different continent.