The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has elected Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania as its new president, marking a historic transition in the leadership of Africa’s premier multilateral development finance institution.
The election took place on Thursday during the AfDB’s 2025 Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Tah, who previously served as the Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), will succeed Nigeria’s Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, whose ten-year tenure at the helm ends in 2025.
Adesina, elected in 2015, was widely praised for reforming the bank’s operations and enhancing its financial stability during challenging global and continental macroeconomic cycles.
Sidi Ould Tah’s emergence signals a new strategic direction for the institution amid growing development financing challenges.
His election comes at a critical juncture for the AfDB, which is confronting a funding gap estimated at over $100 billion annually to meet Africa’s infrastructure, climate, and private sector development goals.
As previously reported by Investors King in an article titled “Sidi Ould Tah Calls for Strategic Gulf Partnerships as AfDB Faces $100 Billion Annual Funding Gap”, Tah has consistently advocated for a deeper financing alliance between African institutions and Gulf sovereign funds, particularly those from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.
His vision includes mobilising long-term concessional funding and blended finance vehicles to crowd-in private capital and reduce Africa’s external borrowing costs.
During his campaign, Tah positioned himself as a pragmatic reformer committed to institutional efficiency, pan-African investment scale-up, and stronger partnerships with non-traditional donors. He also emphasized equitable access to financing for fragile and climate-vulnerable states.
Tah will be expected to maintain the momentum initiated under Adesina’s leadership, including flagship programmes such as Desert to Power, Feed Africa, and High 5s, while recalibrating the bank’s capital adequacy frameworks to support its growing portfolio.
His election also reflects the increasing influence of North and West African blocs in shaping leadership outcomes within continental institutions, as regional coalitions backed his candidacy over several rounds of voting.
Stakeholders will be watching closely to see how Tah implements his vision amid heightened fiscal pressure across African economies, rising debt service obligations, and the need for more agile development finance interventions.
The AfDB’s next strategic cycle under Tah is expected to prioritise infrastructure financing, climate resilience, regional integration, and youth employment — areas where the funding gap remains most acute.
His five-year term officially begins later this year following a transition period with the outgoing administration.
