AfDB shareholders Await New Director Next Thursday
Sudanhorizon – Othman Siddique
The capital of Côte d’Ivoire will witness the election of a new director for the prestigious African financial institution, the African Development Bank (AfDB), next Thursday, May 29. The director will assume their duties in September. Competition is fierce among five candidates in the preliminary stages, from Côte d’Ivoire itself, Mauritania and Chad from West Africa, and South Africa and Zambia from South Africa.
A summary of the interviews conducted by Radio France Internationale (RFI), can be summarized as follows: Mauritania’s representative, Sidi Ould Tah, served as an advisor to the president of the Islamic Development Bank, the then Mauritanian Minister of Economy, and headed the Arab Bank for Development in Africa (BADEA) until last April. The growing interest of Gulf countries in the African continent has allowed the bank to significantly expand its activities over the past ten years, resulting in an eightfold increase in its disbursements. If elected, Ould Tah plans to work on financial innovation to mobilize more capital, enhance coordination among African financial institutions, and build the infrastructure needed for industrialization in Africa.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Amadou Hott served as Minister of Economy and Vice President for Energy, Climate, and Green Growth under President Akinwumi Adesina. After completing his tenure in the Ivorian government, he was appointed Special Envoy of the President of the African Development Bank for the Green Infrastructure Alliance in Africa. If elected, he promises to make the bank a leader in financing major infrastructure projects and creating the conditions for job-creating growth.
The third candidate from West Africa is Chad’s Abbas Mahamat Toli, the former governor of the Central Bank of Central African States. He claims to have cleaned up the institution’s accounts, significantly increasing its foreign exchange reserves and increasing the import cover of Central African Monetary and Economic Union countries from one month to six months. His electoral platform focused on food security, promoting renewable energy, and developing local financial markets.
Then, from Zambia, representing the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Samuel Mwenzeli was nominated. He served as the former Vice President for Budget at the World Bank, where he worked for 23 years and helped raise record funds for the International Development Association (IDA). He advocates for the removal of tariff barriers within Africa, the development of agriculture and cultural industries, and the economic inclusion of youth and women.
From the same SADC group, we find Bajabulele Tshabalala from South Africa, who served as Vice President of the African Development Bank for six years until last September. During her tenure at the bank, she pioneered a method of raising capital by integrating debt with equity. She has also worked in the private sector, including with insurance company Old Mutual and Standard Bank. Her program, “Lift Africa,” aims not to change the African Development Bank’s strategy, but rather to accelerate its implementation, particularly in infrastructure construction, by engaging more of the private sector.
This vote comes after Akinwumi Adesina (Nigeria) completed his second term as president of the bank. The bank’s capital is shared by 81 countries, each with voting rights equal to its shareholding. To win, a majority of votes from the African shareholders—who represent 60% of the capital—as well as from all regional and non-regional shareholders is required.
Nigeria and the United States are the bank’s largest shareholders, with the US contributing the largest share from outside the continent. The bank group significantly increased its capital in 2019 with contributions from member countries, increasing it from $93 billion to $208 billion. The list of other largest shareholders in the bank includes Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, and Senegal.
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