Shigeki Komatsubara, Resident Representative

Mr. Komatsubara joined UNDP in 2002 and has been serving Africa ever since. Most recently, he was the UNDP Resident Representative in Malawi (2019-2023) credited with enhancing UNDP's value proposition and positive development narrative through, among others, initiatives focused on innovation, digital, entrepreneurship, women and youth. Prior, he served as the TICAD Programme Adviser at UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa HQ in New York (2011-2019), representing UNDP as a co-organizer of the TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) and making pivotal contributions to its evolution into one of the largest global platforms for development dialogues and multi-stakeholder partnerships for Africa. Preceding this, Mr. Komatsubara served as the Deputy Resident Representative in Ghana (2007-2011) in charge of the formulation and execution of UNDP's programmes for Ghana, including groundbreaking private sector partnerships, and as the Country Programme Adviser at Regional Bureau for Africa, UNDP HQ (2002-2007), supporting UNDP Country Offices in Southern Africa and Human Security program formulation in Africa, among others. Before joining UNDP, he served as an economist at the Secretariat of Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations) in Tokyo, Japan (1992-2002) with focus on international trade and investment as well as regulatory reform. From 1995 to 1998, he was seconded by Keidanren to OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France) as a manager for the BIAC (Business and Industry Advisory Committee to OECD), coordinating inputs to and dialogues with OECD Governments and the Secretariat on wide ranging policy and regulatory matters of relevance to OECD Business communities. A Japanese national, he holds MSc (Econ) in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and BA (International Relations) from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.