Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania has been elected President as the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) at the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Tah is expected to succeed Nigeria’s Akinwunmi Adesina whose tenure elapses by the end of August. Adesina served two terms of 10 years in the pan-African financial institution.
Tah was elected on Thursday by the Bank’s Board of Governors, comprising Finance and Economy Ministers or Central Bank Governors of the Bank Group’s 81 regional and non-regional member countries. The board is the highest decision-making authority for the Bank Group.
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The results were announced by Niale Kaba, Minister of Planning and Development for Côte d’Ivoire, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank Group.
The winning candidate is required to obtain at least 50.01% of both the regional and non-regional votes.
A Mauritanian national, Tah brings over 35 years of experience in African and international finance. He served as president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for 10 years from 2015, where he led a full transformation that quadrupled the Bank’s balance sheet, secured a AAA rating, and positioned it among the top-rated development banks focused on Africa.
A former Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Mauritania, Tah has held senior roles in multilateral institutions and has led crisis response, financial reform, and innovative resource mobilization for Africa, including the establishment of BADEA’s $1 billion callable capital program for African MDBs.
The Board of Governors Steering Committee received and approved a total of five candidates by the closing date of 31 January 2025. The list of candidates was officially announced on 21 February 2025.
Daily Trust reports that Tah defeated four other candidates to emerge as the President of the Bank.
Those who contested with him were Ms Swazi Tshabalala from South Africa, Mr Hott Amadou from Senegal, Dr Samuel Munzele Maimbo from Zambia, and Mr Abbas Mahamat Tolli from Chad.
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