Sidi Ould Tah, Mauritania’s former economy minister has been elected to succeed Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina as president of the African Development Bank (AfDB)
In his pitch for the AfDB leadership, Tah 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.
With several North African states members of the AfDB, Tah’s experience at the BADEA could be a bridge with sub-Saharan Africa.
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 quality of life.
The outgoing President of AfDB Akinwumi Adesina stated thus:
“I am proud of the legacy we are leaving behind for my successor, for the bank and for Africa,”
“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.”
Under Akinwunmi Adeshina’s watch as AfDB President, 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. From 2015 at the start of Adeshina’s tenure to 2025, the bank’s capital more than tripled from $93 billion to $318 billion.