ARC Secretariat

Dr. Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze
Group Director General 

Dr. Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze is a distinguished applied economist and policymaker with a deep commitment to sustainable development and rural transformation. He served as Rwanda’s Minister of State for Agriculture and Animal Resources and Minister of Trade and Industry between 2020 and 2024 where he played a key role in shaping national policies to enhance agricultural productivity and economic growth. 

In academia, Dr. Ngabitsinze is an Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics whose work has focused on improving productivity and market access in the agricultural sector, particularly for smallholder farmers. His efforts have significantly contributed to evidence-based strategies aimed at strengthening food security and supporting rural economic transformation. Through his dual roles in policy and academia, Dr. Ngabitsinze has been instrumental in bridging the gap between research and practice, helping to drive sustainable transformation across Rwanda’s agricultural sector.

In government, Dr. Ngabitsinze held leadership roles in agriculture and trade where he championed policies that attract investment, expand exports, and reduce reliance on imports. He prioritised economic resilience through private sector development and the integration of regional value chains. He actively engaged in multilateral, continental, and regional collaboration, participating in platforms such as the Commonwealth Trade Ministers’ Meeting and supported initiatives aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). A strong advocate for partnerships, he views collaboration as essential to scaling impact and ensuring inclusive economic growth across Africa.

Dr. Ngabitsinze has also served in legislative and political leadership where he advocated for transparency, accountability, and evidence-based policymaking. His combined executive and parliamentary experience reinforced his commitment to collaborative leadership, aligning national goals with regional and continental development priorities.
 

Ms Eva Kavuma
Chief Operating Officer

Ms Eva Kavuma joined ARC in 2017 as the Chief Operating Officer, bringing to ARC over fifteen years of executive experience in stakeholder engagement and organizational optimization, as well as a profound understanding of Africa’s diverse investment environments. Ms Kavuma ensures that all of ARC Agency’s operational areas – Research and Development, Technical Support, Country Engagement, Contingency Planning, and Policy and Technical Advisory – are harmonized and efficiently working towards improving disaster risk financing in ARC Member States.

Before joining ARC, Ms Kavuma was the Director for East and Southern Africa of Africa Risk Consulting from 2015. Previous to this role, she held a variety of strategy-oriented positions in the MTN Group between 1998 and 2015. She worked as the General Manager of International Business Development in the MTN Group’s expansion strategy and in diverse leadership positions in HR International Operations, Corporate Affairs and Customer Experience. Eva led virtual teams to deliver on transformational strategies to achieve organizational effectiveness across multiple geographies, including emerging markets in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Her leadership of multidisciplinary teams at MTN Group across various programme areas resulted in consistent implementation of MTN Group policies and procedures across 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East, as well as the roll-out of transformative initiatives and activities across the MTN Group, including the Group’s Africa expansion strategy, Customer Experience, Shared Service Centre transformation, and the Employee Value Proposition.

Ms Kavuma has a Masters of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She speaks fluent English and Luganda, and she is proficient in French.

Research and Development

 

Policy & Technical Advisory Services

TBA

Country Engagement: West and Central Africa

TBA

Country Engagement: East and Southern Africa

Mr Koffi Konin
Head of Government Services for East and Southern Africa ad interim

 

Contingency Planning

TBA

Legal

TBA

Monitoring & Evaluation

TBA

Communications

Ms Michèle Diane Karambiri
Head of Communication Department

Michèle Diane KARAMBIRI is a specialist in communication, advocacy, partnership and social mobiliSation. She has 15 years' experience in communication for development and social change, including 8 in several United Nations Agencies, both nationally and internationally. She joined ARC as Head of communication in August 2023.

Prior to joining ARC, she worked for more than five years in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), where she held the position of international expert in data communication, particularly surveys and censuses. During this assignment, she was responsible for and carried out communication and awareness campaigns in connection with the General Population Census, the General Business Census and the Harmonized Household Living Conditions Survey. she highlighted statistical data to facilitate their understanding and use in development policies and programs.

At UNFPA, she was also in charge of community awareness-raising as part of programs to promote maternal, neonatal and child health, with a particular focus on empowering women and girls, as well as issues relating to the demographic dividend. She was a member of the United Nations Technology and Innovation Working Group in the Congo, where she proposed innovative solutions for the Covid response, for which she received international recognition in 2021. As an international consultant, Michèle also supported the implementation of the communications strategy for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a grant managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Prior to her international career, Michèle worked in her home country, Burkina Faso, in the public and community sectors, as well as for the United Nations. For two years, she coordinated the national volunteer program for development, and also served as communications manager for a joint UNDP and UNHABITAT program. Still at national level, Michèle worked for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for 4 years. Furthermore, she led and coordinated a dozen communication-related projects as an independent consultant with government, international organizations and civil society.

Overall, Michèle's professional career has involved working with thousands of young people, women and vulnerable people with special needs. She has contributed in strengthening the capacities of over 3,000 young people/women in several countries and in various fields, including communication, gender, life skills, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, civic and voluntary engagement.

Michèle holds a Master's degree in Information and Communication Science from the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, and a Master's degree in Economics, Law and Management, specializing in International Affairs, from the Université Jean Moulin de Lyon 3, France.

Gender

 

Corporate Services