President names new head of Central Bank |03 November 2008

The Bank’s new governor is now serving as the International Monetary Fund’s resident representative in Niger, a post to which he was appointed in 2005 after serving for three years with the IMF as an economist.

Mr Laporte began his career with the Central Bank in 1990 as a senior clerk, rising through the ranks until he was named director general of research and statistics in 1999, a post he held for three years before joining the IMF.

Mr Laporte, who is 38, is married and has two children. He holds a master’s degree in economics.
His appointment takes effect on Monday November 3.