Marie-Hélène Loison is a graduate of Institut d’Etudes Politiques at SciencesPo in Paris, and holds a Masters Degree from the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC. She began her career in 1996 at the French bank Société Générale, in export financing. She joined AFD Group in 2000, at Proparco, AFD’s subsidiary in charge of private-sector financing. Marie-Hélène Loison started there as an investment officer, structuring financing transactions in the agribusiness, health, and tourism sectors. She then joined the private equity department, and became head of private equity in 2008, where she implemented a new strategy designed to create more impacts and boost profits through more equity investments. In 2011 she became Deputy CEO of Proparco in charge of operations, heading a department of around 100 people in France and abroad. She worked on growing the portfolio, revising the strategy, and increasing the share capital by €200 million. Marie-Hélène Loison joined AFD as Director for Middle East and North Africa in 2015, supervising a network of country offices in eight countries. She initiated AFD activity in the Western Balkans, and then concentrated on the Middle East in response to the Syrian crisis. She was appointed Deputy to the Executive Director of Operations in 2018, and deputy CEO of AFD group in 2021. In this capacity she spearheaded the implementation of a new strategic plan focusing on building an integrated group with Proparco and Expertise France, mobilising additional financial resources of up to €2Bn. annually, and strengthening the accountability and impact measurement framework She took her position of Regional director for Southern Africa and Director for South Africa in September 2025.