The top job at the African Development Bank is scheduled for elections on May 29th, with five candidates leading the bank sharing their vision for the next five years.
The search for the African Development Bank (AFDB), the new president of Africa’s top financial institutions, is gaining momentum.
Current head Dr. Akinwumi Adesina serves his second five-year term, but will resign from his position on August 31, 2025.
Under his leadership, the AFDB is primarily prioritized to promote economic and social development on the continent.
This is a vision that Adesina spoke to DW, whom she passionately pursued during her tenure, to her vision she believes has helped stabilize many of the African economies over the past five years.
“In spite of the headwinds that Africa faces globally regarding global inflation, Africa continues to grow very resiliently in terms of rising debt levels, currency depreciation and of course climate change,” he said.
According to the AFDB, 11 of the 20 fastest growing economies in the world last year came from Africa. This indicates that the bank is doing the right thing.
However, he told DW there were still challenges that needed a real solution.
“There is still a tapering effect of the Covid-19 situation that many countries are still dealing with, so there is a need to provide many concession funding to African countries,” Adesina said.
Who is the candidate?
The five candidates to take over from Adesina were Senegale’s Minister of Economy, Minister of Planning and Cooperation (2019-2022), and Zambia’s Dr. Samuel Munzel Maimbo.
The other two candidates are Chad’s economist and former governor, Chad’s Abbas Mahamato Trili, and the only female candidate, South Africa’s Bajabril Swaji Zabalar. She is a former senior vice president of the African Development Bank.
The five candidates use a variety of public engagements to highlight key areas of priority they will focus on when selected for top jobs.
What are your important priorities?
Amadou Hot in Senegal says banks need to invest more in education to develop human capital on the continent.
“We need to invest more in education. We need to invest more in skilled development. We need to have more employment opportunities as well as having education and skills,” he said in a recent session held for five candidates at the Brooklyn facility.
“Our biggest challenge is that there are tens of millions of young people, men and women who are in the job market and they don’t find opportunities. So no matter what we do, our economy has to generate more jobs and activities so that people can earn money.”
Dr Samuel Manzel Meimbo, from Zambia, told DW the focus is on ensuring that most governments receive the financial support they need to grow their respective economies.
Kenya has arrived at the Turkana Lake Wind Power Project (LTWP), one of the biggest beneficiaries of AFDB loans. Chiba
“We want to make sure we are supporting the government as much as possible to navigate a very complex and polarized environment,” said Miembo, who said that while the banks have a significant amount of concession funds to support the government, their number one goal was “the economy is growing rapidly.”
Chad’s Abbas Mahamato Trili hopes the banks will defend the African economy to diversify and endure their income base. He said this can be achieved by investing in renewable energy.
“We need to focus on renewable energy so we can have reliable and sustainable energy, and we need to invest in the infrastructure and the agriculture sector,” Tolli said, indicating that these are priorities for him.
Maximize the potential of young people
For TAH in Mauritania, his key focus is to maximize the potential of the continent’s youthful population and invest in agriculture.
“We need to work on demographics and turn it into power. We need to use natural resources and turn wealth into prosperity,” he said.
Many African countries are still working on basic infrastructure such as stable electricity supply.
He said banks must encourage African countries to add value to their natural resources and turn their products into important revenue streams for growth. Investing in women and children is also an important focus for TAH.
Bajabrilswaj, the only female candidate in the race, hopes the banks will focus on strengthening their productivity and infrastructure.
“Africa productivity is behind the productivity of many other parts of the world, and that productivity gap arises due to infrastructure gaps,” she emphasized.
“In my view, we cannot create jobs to industrialize to do these ambitious things without basic infrastructure, including roads that contain electricity.”
The important vote to select one of the five candidates will take place at the bank’s annual general meeting held on May 29th in Abidjan, the capital of Koboria.
The focus will be on identifying who of the five candidates can advance the bank’s agenda into the future.
Sign up for the AllAfrica newsletter for free
Get the latest African news
success!
Almost finished…
You need to check your email address.
Follow the instructions in the email you sent to complete the process.
error!
There was a problem processing the submission. Please try again later.
Reduce the impact of climate change
AFDB’s current President Adesina acknowledged that in the future, banks must also affect climate change effects.
“The problem is to support African countries that don’t allow climate change to adapt to climate change, and that’s what we’re doing at the African Development Bank,” he said.
The African Development Bank provides loans, grants and technical assistance to the African government and private companies for projects and programs that support development.
These support programs aim to reduce poverty, improve living conditions and promote sustainable growth on the continent. Adesina’s tenure also focuses on projecting Africa as a fostering investment destination. This is an initiative he says is a priority area for banks.
“We take pride in marketing as an investment destination. One area that African countries believe can do better is how they are paid for natural resources,” he said. “If we can get good public financial management and make sure we manage our natural resources very well, we can mobilize enough resources to address many (our) issues.”
Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu
