MR. ROBERT K.A. GARDINER 1961 - 1975: Mr. Robert K.A. Gardiner, a national of Ghana, served as Executive Secretary from 1961 to 1975, during which period ECA set up an institutional framework for the successful implementation of African development policies and helped to establish the African Development Bank and the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning. Under Mr. Gardiner, ECA promoted post-independence original thinking and research on African policy.

PROF. ADEBAYO ADEDEJI 1975 - 1991: Prof. Adebayo Adedeji, from Nigeria, was Executive Secretary from 1975 to 1991, during which period ECA tackled the challenges of a new international economic order to Africa and adopted landmark policies such as the Lagos Plan of Action. Prof Adedeji worked to correct the adverse impacts of structural adjustment programmes on African economies, offering an alternative – the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for Socioeconomic Recovery and Transformation. He led the establishment of the regional economic communities, beginning with the Economic Community of West African States in 1975; drew up the African Charter for Popular Participation; and pushed for the proclamation of the first United Nations Trust Fund for the Transportation and Communications Decade in Africa (UNCTADA) by the General Assembly.