Alamine Ousmane Mey

Mey was born on February 26, 1966, in Kousséri, Cameroon. He completed his primary schooling in Garoua.^[1] He is the son of former Northern Province governor Abba Ousmane Mey, a top-ranking figure in the Ahmadou Ahidjo government. Mey studied electrical engineering in Germany at RWTH Aachen University, as well as in Belgium and Turkey.^[2] In 1993, he joined CCEI Bank, which would later become Afriland First Bank, and was promoted to managing director in 2003.^[3] In 2004, Mey spearheaded the launch of I-CARD, the first electronic wallet in Central Africa.^[1] I-Card was not an initially popular measure.^[4]

On December 9, 2011, Mey was appointed Minister of Finance. Under him, Cameroon's economy grew by more than 5% despite the Great Recession.^[2] The website for the Cameroonian Ministry of Finance was also launched under Mey.^[2][3] Mey is a supporter of microfinance in Cameroon, and closed down 84 illegal microfinance loan businesses in the country in February 2014.^[5][6]

In December 2018, Mey was appointed Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development.^[7] Mey's goal upon entering office was to increase public-private partnerships.^[1]