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Secretary General, IPAWAS
Bakary Séga Bathily serves as the founding Secretary General of IPAWAS — the Investment Promotion Agencies of West Africa. Appointed in 2024, he leads the operational activities of the secretariat and drives the organisation's mission to harmonise investment promotion across the twelve ECOWAS member states.
Mr. Bathily brings deep expertise in investment facilitation, policy development, and regional economic cooperation drawn from years of senior leadership at APIX Senegal, the Agence pour la Promotion des Investissements et des Grands Travaux — one of West Africa's most respected investment promotion agencies.
Bakary Séga Bathily has built a distinguished career at the intersection of investment promotion, public policy, and regional economic integration. At APIX Senegal, he played a central role in positioning Senegal as one of West Africa's premier investment destinations, helping to attract significant foreign direct investment across strategic sectors including energy, agribusiness, and manufacturing.
His appointment as IPAWAS's founding Secretary General reflects the confidence of all twelve member IPA heads in his ability to build and manage a complex, multilateral institution from the ground up. The founding Secretary General role demands not only technical expertise in investment promotion but also the diplomatic skill to align twelve sovereign agencies around common objectives — a challenge Mr. Bathily is uniquely positioned to meet.
As Secretary General, Mr. Bathily oversees the day-to-day operations of the IPAWAS Secretariat, coordinates joint investment promotion programmes, represents IPAWAS in engagements with ECOWAS institutions, development partners, and international investors, and steers the strategic implementation of decisions taken by the Executive Committee and the Council of IPA Heads.
Manage the IPAWAS Secretariat, ensuring efficient operations, staffing, and delivery of all mandated programmes and services to member IPAs.
Facilitate cooperation and knowledge-sharing among the twelve member IPAs, aligning individual agency strategies with the IPAWAS collective investment promotion mandate.
Represent IPAWAS in ECOWAS forums, international investment conferences, and bilateral engagements with development finance institutions and global investors.
Lead the design and delivery of regional investment facilitation services, including the IPAWAS One-Stop Investor Support Desk and joint investment missions.
Oversee the IPA Capacity Building Programme, raising professional standards and technical capability across all member agencies.
Commission and coordinate regional investment policy research, benchmarking reports, and publications that inform evidence-based decision-making across member states.
Building the institutional infrastructure — staffing, governance systems, and operational processes — to make IPAWAS a fully functional regional body.
Developing a unified West Africa investment brand and coordinated promotion strategy that showcases the region as a single, interconnected investment destination.
Positioning IPAWAS member states to capture intra-African investment flows unlocked by the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Supporting member agencies in modernising their investor services through technology, including this shared digital platform, online one-stop-shops, and data-driven investment targeting.
Securing sustainable funding for IPAWAS programmes through member contributions, development partner grants, and structured partnerships with multilateral institutions.