AfDB Election: Adesina to Emerge AfDB President for Another Five Years this Week

Following a long period of probes and eventual clearance by shareholders, Akinwumi Adesina, the President, African Development Bank (AfDB), is about to be re-elected for a second term.

The 60-year-old Nigerian is set to be voted for another five years as the sole candidate at a two-day meeting that begins today, Wednesday.

Adesina is seeking to unite member countries around a support program that’s already seen the AfDB source $100 billion to stabilize economies in a continent of 1.2 billion people hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic.

“African states have confidence in him and will be very conscious to express that confidence,” Kalu Ojah, professor of finance and the deputy head of Wits Business School in Johannesburg, said by phone. “He needs support.”

Earlier this year, Adesina was accused of trying to Nigerianise the AfDB by an anonymous ‘concerned staff’ of the bank in a letter forwarded to France and eventually picked up by the United States, one of the shareholders of the bank.

The United States had insisted on a second external probe into the activities of the beautiful Adesina at the AfDB despite been cleared by the internal probe committee set up in accordance with the multilateral financial institution’s constitution.

Despite objections against the US and allies’ demands, in what people terms as meddling by the world’s largest power, Adesina surrendered himself for a second probe led by external investigators and was eventually cleared for a second time.

Prompting Nigeria to increase its holding in the bank from 8.5 percent to 16.8 percent, making Africa’s largest economy the largest shareholder of the bank.

Germany came second with a 7.4 percent stake while the U.S remained third with 5.5 percent.