Babatunde is Head of Public Health, Security and Social Protection Division of the African Development Bank Group. He managed the Bank’s multi-billion-dollar response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa to save lives and livelihoods throughout Africa and to help African countries strengthen their health systems, stabilize their economies, and alleviate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic.
A global development leader, Babatunde served as Head of Development Planning with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York and led the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Team on the monitoring and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally. He also cochaired the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Task Force on Global Food and Nutrition Security Technical Team. Babatunde was UNDP’s Regional Practice Leader for poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) in Africa and UNDP’s Senior Economic Advisor and Head of Policy and Strategy in South Africa.
Babatunde was also the Africa-wide Coordinator with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). He handled the relationship of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the African Union Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Babatunde has visited and delivered development assistance in over 80 countries worldwide in Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Babatunde has held prestigiousfellowships with Yale University, Stanford University, the Ford Foundation, the International Science Council, and the International Development Research Centre, Canada. He holds both M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in International Development and Development Economics from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, United Kingdom.