Claude Owona Ekoto, a Cameroonian banking executive, has been appointed Regional Director for the International Finance Corporation’s Financial Institutions Group (FIG) for Central Africa and Anglophone West Africa. Before her promotion, Owona Ekoto served as IFC Regional Manager for Financial Institutions in West Africa. Her appointment comes as IFC expands its support for financial institutions in emerging markets through lending, risk-sharing facilities, climate finance initiatives and private-sector investment programs. Its strategy in Central Africa and Anglophone West Africa includes credit lines, portfolio guarantees and risk-sharing mechanisms. The organization has also committed $18.5 billion from its own balance sheet to climate-related projects through more than 160 financial institutions in emerging markets.