(2 minutes read)
· African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr. Akinwumi
Adesina may get another term as the Executive Council of the African
Union (AU) has supported his candidature for another term as
President of the African Development Bank.
· During his term, bank’s capital base was increased from US
$93 billion to US$208 billion.
African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina may
get another term as the Executive Council of the African Union (AU)
has supported his candidature for another term as President of the
African Development Bank. The thirty-sixth Ordinary Session of the AU
Executive Council, held during the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
6-7 February 2020 had taken a decision to this effect, it is learnt
from media reports.
Adesina, the eighth president of the AfDB, was elected to his first
term as President by the Bank’s Board of Governors at its Annual
Meetings in Abidjan on 28 May 2015. A native of Nigeria and the only
one to become the president from that country, Adesina has got the
unstinted support of AU executive council. During his term, the Bank
has approved a landmark US$115 billion capital increase as on late
October. The bank’s capital base, during his term has increased
from US $93 billion to US$208 billion. This had come for a special
mention by the AU’s executive board. .
A renowned development economist who has held a number of high-profile
international positions, including w the Rockefeller Foundation,
Adesina was Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
from 2011 to 2015.
The African Union Executive Council has 55 members drawn from AU
member countries. Earlier in December 2019, the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) also recommended Adesina for another
term as Bank chief. Now, he has to be elected by the Bank’s Annual
Meeting to be held in May in Abidjan, the capital of Nigeria.
