CELINE GILQUIN, Managing Director, Head of Social Link Division- AFD
Céline Gilquin is a graduate of the Institut National d’Agronomie Paris-Grignon and the Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et Forêts. She also holds a Master’s degree in Finance from the Imperial College Management School.
After working for five years in an investment bank, she joined AFD headquarters in Paris in 2005 as Task Team Leader. For nine years, she was in charge of setting up and financing development projects in numerous foreign countries and overseas territories. She advised local and national authorities on the definition and implementation of sustainable and inclusive public policies.
In 2014, she became head of AFD’s Water and Sanitation Division. For five years, she managed a team of 30 experts and a portfolio representing 10% of AFD’s activity. She contributed to the definition of AFD’s strategy in this sector and to the development of the activity. She was particularly committed to the issues of adapting to climate change and reducing gender inequalities. She also participated in international discussions on financing the sector and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2019, she was appointed Director of AFD in French Polynesia, based in Papeete. She focused in particular on meeting the territory’s needs during the covid crisis period through the implementation of emergency budget loans and support for managing the balance of social accounts.
In September 2022, she was appointed head of AFD’s Social Link Division, responsible for coordinating the cross-cutting themes of sport and development, cultural and creative industries, gender equality and, more broadly, multidimensional inequalities. She manages a team of 25 experts and actively contributes to the development of AFD’s activities in these priority sectors of France’s international cooperation policy, in particular through the building of innovative partnerships with stakeholders in the sport and culture sectors as well as with feminist organizations.