THE immediate past Director, Regional Office for Africa of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN–Habitat), Prof. Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka has moved to the African Development Bank as the Chief of Staff and Director of Cabinet of the President and Special Advisor on industrialization.
Prof. Oyeyinka, a Nigerian citizen, is a globally respected leader in the field of development economics, where he has contributed immensely to the social sciences of urbanization and human settlement, industrialization and economic development.
An astute manager, thought leader, strategist and scholar, he has distinguished himself in the fields of human, social and international development, which he has written extensively on.
As the former Director, UN-Habitat Regional Office for Africa, he initiated and managed several human settlements as well as urban and social development projects globally. He supervised UN-Habitat programs in 24 countries and led UN-Habitat Cooperation Programmes to support the formulation and implementation of National Urban Policy.
He earlier served as Director, Monitoring and Research Division in which capacity he provided intellectual leadership for the UN-Habitat flagship reports. Oyelaran-Oyeyinka also worked as Chief Scientific Advisor, UN-Habitat and as Senior Economic Advisor at the United Nations Centre on Trade and Development, Geneva where he coordinated the ten-year review of performance of the Least Developed Countries.
Between 2001 and 2006, he served as Professor at the United Nations University, Institute for
New Technologies. He was also a Professorial Fellow, Technology, Innovation Policy and Development, at the United Nations University, MERIT, Maastricht, the Netherlands, a visiting Professor for the Innovation and Development at The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, and was a Senior Economic Advisor, for the United Nations Centre on Trade and Development.
Prof. Oyelaran-Oyeyinka holds a First Class Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Ife, a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto, Canada and a Doctorate of Philosophy in the Political Economy of Technological Change and Industrialization, University of Sussex, United Kingdom.

• Marc Philips