NAIROBI, Kenya – The board of the African Development Bank has elected Sidi Ould Tah as its next president.
This follows a competitive race that drew five candidates from across the continent.
He takes over following the conclusion of the second and final term of Akinwumi Adesina of Nigeria, who has been at the held of the bank since 2015.
The pan African lender says Tah brings over 35 years of experience in African and international financial institutions.
He previously served for a decade as President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
The vote was conducted by the Bank’s Board of Governors, comprising Finance Ministers, Economy Ministers, and Central Bank Governors from the Bank’s 81 regional and non-regional member countries.
In order to win, a candidate needed to secure at least 50.01% of the votes from both regional and non-regional members.
Tah is also a former Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Mauritania and has led several financial reform and crisis-response initiatives on the continent.
He was instrumental in the launch of BADEA’s $1 billion (Sh 129,000,000) callable capital program aimed at strengthening African Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).
“The election of a new president comes at a crucial time in the Bank Group’s six decades of existence,”said the bank in a statement.
“Africa has remained resilient despite climate shocks, economic disruption, and a shifting geopolitical landscape, but needs to move faster or risk falling behind on delivering on the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, summed up in the Bank Group’s High 5’s.”
The African Development Bank Group consists of the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund, and the Nigeria Trust Fund.
Its 81 shareholders include 54 regional (African) and 27 non-regional (non-African)member countries.
