Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina of Nigeria has been re-elected as the President of the African Development Bank. With this election, Adesina will spend another term of five years managing and supervising the affairs of the bank.
The election took place electronically on Thursday at the virtual annual general meeting of the bank.
Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina was the former Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture. He was reappointment as he was the sole candidate to preside once again over the 56-year-old bank.
The head of the African bank had appealed on Wednesday for a second term in office after surviving an alleged probe of corruption and poor governance for which he has been cleared.
In a speech at the AfDB’s annual meetings, Dr. Adesina had formally requested a second term as president, declaring that he was “doing it with an acute sense of duty and commitment.”
“I do it to serve Africa and our bank, in an unbiased way, to the best of the abilities that God has given me,” he said, according to a statement issued by the bank.
Dr. Adesina before the election recalled that his current five-year term as head of the African Development Bank Group was marked by the implementation of five strategic priorities for the continent’s development, known as the “High 5s.”
“Five years ago, right here in Abidjan, you elected me president of the African Development Bank. It was a huge responsibility to shoulder. I promised that I would work tirelessly to accelerate Africa’s development. My vision, focused on the High 5 priorities, was my commitment, my promise, my compass,” Adesina said during a virtual session at the start of the Bank’s 2020 Annual Meetings.
“Time has passed so quickly,” he noted, citing the Bank’s achievements in the five years of his presidency: 18 million additional people now have access to electricity, 141 million people have received more advanced agricultural technology to improve food security, 15 million people have access to financing, 101 million now have access to improved transport, and 60 million people have gained access to water and sanitation.
With these positive results, President Adesina asked the Board of Governors to renew their trust in him for the next five years. “Dear Governors, these Annual Meetings are my opportunity to offer you my services and seek a second term as President of the African Development Bank. I do so with humility. I do so with an acute sense of duty and commitment. I do so to serve Africa and our Bank,” he stated.
The re-elected President gained continent-wide recognition last October when the AfDB secured $115 billion (105 billion euros) in funding pledges, a move that doubled its capital and cemented its triple-A credit rating.
The AfDB has estimated that the continent could lose at least $173.1 billion in GDP in 2020 and $236.7 billion in 2021 as a result of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis.
The bank has moved swiftly in response, setting up a coronavirus funding mechanism in April of up to $10 billion.
The number of shareholders in the AfDB rose to 81, Adesina said, with the admission of Ireland. Fifty-four shareholders are African, while the others are from the Americas, Asia and Europe.
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