Achille Bassilekin III, born on 20 March 1969 in Yaoundé (Cameroon), is Assistant Secretary General in charge of Sustainable Economic Development and Trade. As a career diplomat, Mr Bassilekin III joined the Ministry of External Relations of the Republic of Cameroon in 1993 as Desk Officer in the United Nations and Multilateral Cooperation Department and was appointed Service Head in the Department of Asian Affairs in 1997.  Prior to his appointment, he was Deputy-Head of the Permanent Delegation of the ACP Secretariat Office in Geneva (2008-2010). Before then, he had served as Counsellor in the same Office (2001-2008). His work is focused on multilateral trade, commodities, agricultural development, environment and climate change as well as trade related issues such as customs cooperation and market access. His Department also works on issues relating to ;promotion of intra ACP trade, infrastructure development, industrialization, investment and private sector development as well as liaising with cognate regional and international organizations such as the UN and its various agencies and the joint institutions (CDE and CTA). He also coordinates activities with the ACP Geneva Office while assisting the relevant Sub-Committees and Working Groups of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors and take follow-up actions; etc…

Mr. Bassiliken graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Yaoundé.

He is a graduate of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, from where he earned Master’s degree as well as a Doctorate in international relations. He also holds a Master’s in International Trade from the International Studies Institute at Complutense University in Madrid. He has undergone professional training in several international institutions, among them: the Diplomatic School of Madrid, the Diplomatic Institute of Beijing (China); the International Institute of Human Rights of Strasbourg (France); the International Institute of Public Administration of Paris; and the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. He is fluent in French, Spanish, English and German. A respected international trade specialist, he is the author of several articles and research papers published, some of which are available on his Website:  http://www.bassilekin.com/publications.html.

Before joining the ACP Secretariat, Mr. Bassiliken was an associate consultant with the UNDP and the UNECA Offices in Yaoundé. From 1994-1995, he was the Secretary General of a Yaoundé based NGO, the Centre for studies and research for development. He is member of one philanthropic society and his hobbies are classical music, violin, cycling and football.