Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the 8th President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has promised Africa, and Africa’s development partners that his best is yet to come. He made this known in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire during his swearing in ceremony as the 8th president of the African Development Bank (AfDB). Adesina reached out to stakeholders of the Bank, the management and staff of the Bank, imploring everyone to “let us move forward, driven by the power of our mission, inspired by the primacy of our vision and emboldened by the strength of our togetherness.” He added that “today, a rainbow stretches from the 81 member countries of the African Development Bank across the deep blue skies of Africa…The future beckons us for a more developed Africa and a much stronger and resilient African Development Bank.”
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank
The swearing-in ceremony, which took place at the Bank’s Abidjan headquarters, was presided over by the newly appointed Chair of the Board of Governors, Ghanaian Finance Minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta, who administered the Oath Office. Several presidents attended the virtual ceremony live and sent messages of support. They included Paul Kagame of Rwanda, the president of Liberia, George Weah, Alpha Conde of Guinea, Guinea Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and Denis Sassou Nguesso of Republic of Congo. Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Atiku Abubakar were also present.
Ofori-Atta was assisted by the past Board of Governors Chair, Ivorian Planning Minister Niale Kaba, and the Bank’s Secretary General Vincent Nmehielle who read the resolution of the Board confirming Adesina’s election. On 27 August 2020, Governors of the 54 African regional member countries and 27 non-regional member countries of the African Development Bank Group unanimously voted in the eighth President for a second five-year term on the final day of the 2020 Annual Meetings.
Ofori-Atta said he had no doubt that Africa’s premier development bank had secured the right leadership. “We need to continue to steer and direct the Bank’s efforts to setting global standards of excellence, integrity, commitment to service and responsiveness to the challenges of the continent,” he said. “You earned a new mandate in a most historic fashion,” he told Adesina.
Adesina’s first five-year term in office 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.
Today, that ambition was being achieved, Adesina stated, adding that 18 million Africans had gained access to electricity, 15 million had benefited from investor finance, 60 million enjoyed new access to water, 141 million people had improved agricultural technologies for food and 101 million people had access to improved transport from infrastructure. “We have collectively charted a new path for Africa…We have achieved collectively impressive results,” Adesina said.
Going forward in his new term, he would focus on building on the collective achievements and a stronger and more resilient African Bank Group. “Our focus will be on institutions, people, delivery and sustainability. Together we win for Africa,” Adesina said. “Yet again, let us move forward, driven by the power of our mission, inspired by the primacy of our vision and emboldened by the strength of our togetherness,” he added. Representatives of the Nigerian and Côte d’Ivoire governments as well as Bank Executive Directors and senior management also attended the ceremony.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
In an Africa, dealing with monumental infrastructure and energy deficits; a teeming youthful population desperate for jobs and opportunities; and currently facing what is arguably its most daunting challenge – the COVID-19 pandemic; the continent has never been as in need of leaders, who care about the development and welfare of its people, as it does now. Leaders who transcend myopic classifications and are pan Africanists in the mould of Thomas Sankara, Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela. Key critical stakeholders have also never agreed as they are today, that Africa has one of such men in Dr Akinwumi Adesina. He crisscrosses the globe preaching the gospel of a resurgent Africa and has been severally nicknamed Africa’s developer-in-chief, Africa’s promoter – in-chief, but, one stands out, Africa’s Optimist-in-Chief.
Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group
A distinguished development economist, and agricultural development expert with over 28 years international experience, Dr Adesina was at different times the Vice President of Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa; Associate Director, Rockefeller foundation; and Principal Economist, International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, IITA. He also served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011-2015, during which time he pioneered innovative agricultural investments projects to expand opportunities for the private sector, receiving several awards and accolades for excellence during the course of work. Dr Adesina was elected in 2015 as the 8th President of the African Development Bank – the first Nigerian to head the leading development institution in its long chequered history.
The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS at its 56th ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of States, endorsed the reelection of Dr Akinwumi Adesina as the President of the African Development Bank.
In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the authority noted that “in recognition of the sterling performance of Dr Akinwumi Adesina during his first term of office as President of the African Development Bank, the Authority endorses his candidacy for a second term as the President of the bank.”
Preceding his endorsement for a second term, Dr Adesina had won the 2017 World Food Prize – a parallel to the Nobel Peace Prize. The World Food Prize on its website, while announcing the award, stated that “through his roles over the past two decades with the Rockefeller Foundation, at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and as Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria, Dr Adesina has been at the forefront of galvanizing political will to transform African agriculture through initiatives to expand agricultural production, and thwart corruption in the Nigerian fertilizer industry.”
In February 2019, Dr Adesina co-won the Sunhak Peace Prize, alongside Waris Dirie, the tireless fighter for female genital mutilation and women’s rights in Africa. Later the same year, he was overwhelmingly voted as the African of the Year 2019, in the African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Awards by Africans from all spectrum of society with over 68% of total votes cast in his category – the continent’s leading vote-based poll. And there has been a deluge of several other endorsements from governments, individuals and organizations from within and outside the continent.
Like the famous quote, “behind every successful person lies a pack of haters”, It was therefore unsurprising to see the uninspiring media attack cloaked in the garb of revelation by “whistleblowers-cum-group of concerned staff”. This weak attempt at pulling down a shining star, published in the French tabloid, Le Monde, would certainly pass for a malicious piece, designed to muddy the waters. One can also safely say that they are meant to detract the African Development Bank from focusing on its core mandate, which it had tenaciously pursued under the leadership of its President, Dr Adesina.
Someone of Dr Adesina’s pedigree is not opposed to scrutiny. He has become an apostle for good governance and best practices, the twin message that has become his anthem at meetings with key African stakeholders. According to the 2018 Aid Transparency Index Report, released by Publish What you Fund, African Development Bank was ranked 4th among 45 development organizations around the world.
A careful study of the issues as raised by the ‘whistleblowers’ in their report, which was the source of the Le Monde article – calls for a closer look at the ‘invisible ink’. In the story, he was accused among other things of a plan to “Nigerianize the AfDB by giving compatriots key positions, but also by more easily granting lines of credit to leading Nigerian companies.”
Nothing can be further from the truth. Nigeria, though the largest shareholder in the Bank with about $6 billion portfolio, appears to be getting the short end of the projects. For instance, an approved list of projects on the website of the AfDB showed about 75 projects totalling $64, 584, 648, and none of the majors was mainly targeted at Nigeria alone. While Senegal, Cameroun, Tanzania, Rwanda, Namibia amongst others, had specific projects aimed at the individual country levels, Nigeria was lumped more in the multi-countrywide projects categories. In any case, one should think that Nigeria, with its vast population and very well known energy and infrastructure problems, and as the largest shareholder of the Bank, should have a much more significant share of the Bank’s projects.
It may therefore not be surprising if the ‘invisible ink’ in these accusations is linked to Dr Adesina’s stubborn resolve to detangle Africa from the shackles of over-dependence on others but seek self-reliant African solutions to Africa’s problems. He has also taken upon himself the onerous task of challenging the negative stereotypes about the continent. One would also wonder, if the timing of these accusations published in the French tabloid Le Monde, and the recent calls by two French doctors on live television for COVID-19 vaccine trial tests to be carried out in Africa, at a time that the AfDB had just successfully listed a US $3Billion Social bond on the London Stock Exchange to help Africa deal with the pandemic, are linked?
It was appalling to see two French doctors on the French television channel, LCI, propose that the potential vaccine for the Virus be tested on Africans first, before deploying it to Europe and Australia. Instantly, this set-off a backlash from people of goodwill from around the continent and beyond. This kind of thinking from some westerners is what leaders like Dr Adesina have consistently challenged, and some vested interests aren’t happy about it. Make no mistake, Africa has some worthy partners in the west, but her adversaries come in equal measure.
On his part, Dr Adesina, in his response to the Le Monde article, has said that “the African Development Bank has a very high reputation for good governance.” He restated, the Bank’s confidence in the governance system put in place by the board of Governors of the Bank and asked that the ethics committee of the Bank be allowed to do its job without interference. We dare say without any media trials also.
Dr Adesina, since his emergence as the 8th President of the Bank in 2015 has led the Bank on what many analysts have described as an exceptional tenure. A leader in agricultural innovation for over 28 years, Dr Adesina has contributed significantly to food security in Africa, aimed at improving the lives of millions in the continent. The Bank, under Dr Adesina, has recorded many firsts and marked several milestones including:
Increase in the Bank’s capital, showing the shareholders’ high level of confidence in the institution. The Bank’s governors, representing shareholders from 80 countries, approved a historic capital increase of $115 billion. The institution’s capital more than doubled to $208 billion, which solidified the Bank’s leadership in financing development in Africa. The unprecedented increase, the largest since the Bank’s creation in 1964, provided clear evidence of shareholders’ trust.
The African Development Bank Group continues to play a central role in Africa’s development under the leadership of Dr Adesina. We, therefore, call on all stakeholders, including the UN, WHO, President Ramophosa-led African Union, Afreximbank and other institutions, currently at the forefront of pushing for the continent’s survival in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, to band together and do all it takes to save the continent, and indeed the world by defeating the virus in Africa, rather than give credence to a seemingly stage-managed media spat. As Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed rightly said, “If COVID-19 is not defeated in Africa it will return to haunt us all”.
Ken Giami is the Founder and Publisher of the African Leadership magazine, and writes from the United Kingdom.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has urged the government and people of the United Kingdom to ride the wave of the African Continental Free Trade Area arguing that Africa and the UK should be significant trading partners. Speaking to an audience made up of British investors yesterday, Dr. Adesina said that Africa is on the cusp of unmatched economic transformation, and the UK must engage in a “partnership of change.” Dr. Adesina in a keynote address at a United Kingdom Parliamentary Symposium titled “The Africa of the 21st century is very different. The Africa of the 21st century is new and more confident,” pointed out that there is no better time for British businesses and investors to look south towards Africa than now as Africa warms to the creation of a single market which would be among the top five in the world.
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
The Symposium was co-organized by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Africa with the Royal African Society, Oxford Brookes University, and the Trade Justice Network under the theme UK-Africa Trade and Brexit. The Bank’s chief argued that Africa and the UK should be significant trading partners. “The reality, however, is that UK’s trade with Africa is trending downwards. From a $49 billion peak in 2012, trade decreased to $30.6 billion in 2018,” he noted. The decline in UK trade and investment in Africa is against a backdrop of projected business-to-business and consumer-to-consumer expenditures of $5.6 trillion by 2020, and a food and agriculture market worth $1 trillion by 2030.
“The fact that we are having this conversation in the UK Parliament is a great start. The convening of this Summit by Prime Minister Boris Johnson is an even greater start,” he acknowledged. President Adesina used his engagement at the House of Commons to share Africa’s investment opportunities, “which speak for themselves.” Trading under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which represents a market of more than 1.3 billion people and a gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion, and is the world’s largest free trade area since establishment of the World Trade Organization, starts in July.
Speaking earlier in the morning at the UK-Africa Investment Summit Sustainable Infrastructure Forum, the Bank’s chief said: “Investing in quality and sustainable infrastructure can spur Africa’s economic transformation.”
The Forum, organized by the Department of International Development (DFID) and Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Africa, seeks to facilitate new investment and commercial opportunities for the UK and promote quality infrastructure to deliver better services to African citizens. The Bank has been a forerunner in the race to rapidly close the continent’s infrastructure gap, which Adesina suggested be renamed “Africa’s infrastructure demand opportunity.” Investors who tapped early into information and communications technology infrastructure in Africa have seen those investments become game-changers for Africa, he noted.
“Just under two decades ago, Africa had fewer telephones than Manhattan in New York. Today, Africa has over 440 million cell phone subscribers. Returns on digital infrastructure are very high as the continent expands broadband infrastructure to boost connectivity and improve services,” Adesina said.
The African Development Bank has been a major investor in infrastructure development in the electricity, transport, and water sectors across Africa. Cumulative Bank funding for infrastructure on the continent rose by 22% from $66.9 billion in 2016 to $81.6 billion in 2017. During the same period, the value of infrastructure projects with private sector participation has increased from $3.6 billion to $5.2 billion.
To meet Africa’s unmet infrastructure needs, project preparation is critical, the Forum heard. The Bank has established several project preparation facilities to address the lack of bankable projects and ensure a robust pipeline of projects. These facilities collectively provide $30-50 million annually in support for project preparation. The African Development Bank and DFID are collaborating to explore how to better support fragile states, which are facing huge financing needs. DFID has been the Bank’s key strategic partner since it joined the Bank group in 1983. And its “strong and consistent” support for the African Development Fund has helped the development of low-income states, especially the fragile states.
Instruments, such as the Private Sector Credit Enhancement Facility, a credit-risk participation vehicle from the African Development Fund, (ADF)’s concessional window to support Non-Sovereign Operations in low-income countries, are showing tremendous results. With $500 million in credit guarantees, provided through ADF, the Bank has leveraged $2.5 billion of financing into fragile states, with a zero default rate. “We are committed to quality infrastructure and ensuring that no one is left behind!” Adesina concluded.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
