Akinwumi Adesina Releceted as AfDB President

Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has been re-elected by the voting committee as the President of Africa’s multilateral financial institution for another five years.

Akinwumi, who contested unopposed, was cleared by both internal committee and the external investigating committee on allegations bordering on favoritism and trying to Nigerianise the lender.

As newly re-elected President, Dr Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture, will begin his new term on September 1, 2020.

The election result, which gave him a hundred percent of votes of all regional and non-regional members of the Bank, was announced by the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Bank, Mrs. Niale Kaba, Minister of National Planning of Côte d’Ivoire.

The election took place on the final day of the 2020 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group, which was held virtually for the first time in the Bank’s history.

Minister Niale Kaba, said, “I am delighted that the Board of Governors have re-elected Dr. Adesina for a second term in office as President. As shareholders, we strongly support the Bank and will give him all the necessary support to carry forward and implement his compelling vision for the Bank over the next five years.”

Adesina’s first term focused on the bold new agenda for the Bank Group based on five development priorities known as the High 5s: Light up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.

During Adesina’s first term, the Bank achieved impactful results on the lives of 335 million Africans, including: 18 million people with access to electricity; 141 million people benefiting from improved agricultural technologies for food security; 15 million people benefiting from access to finance from private investments; 101 million people provided with access to improved transport; and 60 million people gaining access to water and

Bashir Ahmad, Presidential new media aide, in a tweet, said “Nigeria’s Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has been re-elected as the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB). With this re-election, he will spend another 5 years supervising the affairs of the Bank. Congratulations!”