Dr Jennifer Blanke, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, has resigned her appointment.

The bank’s Communications and External Relations Department made this known in a statement on Wednesday.

Blanke, who joined the Bank in early 2017 and had overseen a number of the bank’s key programmes, would officially leave on July 4.

Blanke said: “I thank President Akinwumi Adesina for his strong leadership, guidance and support which have undoubtedly motivated and helped my team and I to play a key role in the transformation of the bank.

“I feel privileged to have been given an opportunity to contribute to the bank’s agenda for accelerating Africa’s social and economic transformation.

“I am leaving purely for family reasons to rejoin my family in Switzerland after a very fulfilling time at the bank. I will miss the bank and the excellent team we have built.

“I will continue to strongly support the bank from wherever I am,” she stated.

Adesina expressed delight to have worked with Blanke for more than three years.

He said she demonstrated genuine leadership skills.

She had moved “the needle on so many fronts especially in the areas of food security, women financial empowerment and job creation”, Adesina added.