Carl Manlan is an economist from Côte d’Ivoire currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer of the Ecobank Foundation. Prior to his tenure at the Ecobank Foundation, he was the first Executive Secretary at Africa against Ebola Solidarity Trust (AEST), which was set up to harness African financial resources to drive the post-Ebola response particularly on health system strengthening. Before this, he worked as the Technical Advisor to the Executive Secretary of UN Economic Commission for Africa. Carl has facilitated negotiations to advance the public health goals of Benin, the Abidjan Lagos Corridor Organization, Senegal and Guinea Bissau. Over the past 10 years, he has focused on developing systems to improve public health financing, mostly at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Carl Manlan holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. In 2015, he was awarded one of the highest civilian honours “Officier de l’Ordre du Mérite du Bénin” for his contribution to the improvement of health in the Republic of Benin. He suggests looking as development as “creating wealth, not reducing poverty”.
