Abidjan (AFP) – Mauritania’s former economy minister Sidi Ould Tah was on Thursday elected to succeed Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina as president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and tackle the withdrawal of US financing from the institution. In 2015, Adesina took six rounds of voting to become Africa’s “super banker,” but Tah, 60, secured the prestigious post in only three, winning 76 percent of votes. Zambian economist Samuel Munzele Maimbo trailed well behind in second on 20 percent, with Senegal’s Amadou Hott third on less than four percent. The winner had to secure both a majority of votes from all 81 member countries and a majority of votes from the 54 African nations that are part of the AfDB.
Tah, who headed the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for 10 years, secured 72 percent of African votes. He thanked “Africa for the trust” placed in him, adding: “I am fully aware of the responsibility and duty that come with it.” Runner-up Maimbo earlier extended his congratulations and said the bank’s governors had “chosen the leader they believe will best deliver the vision of the Africa we want at this pivotal moment.” With several North African states members of the AfDB, Tah’s experience at the BADEA could be a bridge with sub-Saharan Africa.
In his pitch for the AfDB leadership, he vowed to strengthen regional financial institutions, assert Africa’s financial independence on global markets, use population growth as a development lever, and build climate change-resistant infrastructure.
The AfDB, founded in 1964, is one of the world’s largest multilateral development banks and is funded by member subscriptions, loans raised on global markets as well as repayments and income from loans. But Tah will immediately face a disrupted international economic environment, notably due to announcements from US President Donald Trump’s administration. Beyond tariffs, the AfDB is also facing the threat of losing $500 million in US funding for its projects to support low-income countries on the continent.
All five candidates in the running for the top job promised to make the AfDB even more effective to transform Africa, continuing Adesina’s five priorities to light up, feed, industrialise, integrate, and improve the continent’s quality of life. “I am proud of the legacy we are leaving behind for…my successor, for the bank, and for Africa,” the outgoing president said in a speech on Tuesday. “We have built a world-class financial institution that will continue to advance Africa’s position within a rapidly changing global development and geopolitical environment,” he added.
Adesina said 565 million people had benefited from AfDB projects during his decade in charge. Major projects include support for the construction of the Gabal El Asfar wastewater treatment plant in Egypt — the largest in Africa. The bank also helped finance a bridge connecting Senegal and The Gambia, expanded the port of Lome in Togo, and supported sanitation projects in Lesotho and access to electricity in Kenya, he said. From 2015 to this year, the bank’s capital more than tripled, from $93 billion to $318 billion, he added.
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