At least five African experts have been cleared as candidates for the new leadership role as the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, with elections slated for May 29. The elections by the Board of Directors will determine the successor of Akinwumi Adesina who has led the bank for the past 10 years as his second term comes to an end in May. Candidates include Amadou Hott from Senegal, Samuel Munzele Maimbo from Zambia, Sidi Ould Tah from Mauritania, Abbas Mahamat Tolli from Chad, and Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala from South Africa. ALSO READ: AfDB: Transforming Rwanda's agriculture landscape The President of the bank is elected on a renewable five-year term, during the annual meeting, and the candidate requires at least 50.01 percent of the total votes from both regional and non-regional member countries to secure the position. Regional blocs such as ECOWAS, SADC, and COMESA are expected to play influential roles in the election outcome. Zambia’s Maimbo was the World Bank’s Vice President for Budget, Performance Review and Strategic Planning, Senegal’s Hott was the special envoy of AfDB’s Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa, South African Tshabalala was AfDB Senior Vice President, Chadian Tolli is the former Governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), and Mauritania’s OuldTah, is the former Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa. For the last ten years, Adesina has led the bank’s activities across Africa driven by the High 5s Agenda—Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa—which has impacted more than half a billion lives across the continent. ALSO READ: 60 years of impact: AfDB's role in building skills for a healthier future in Rwanda AfDB –the only African financial institution rated triple A by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch –has invested over $55 billion in infrastructure, making it the largest multilateral financier of African infrastructure, committed $3 billion in quality healthcare infrastructure and another $3 billion for pharmaceutical development, including establishing the Africa Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation. ALSO READ: Investors commit $29.2bn at African Investment Forum In 2024, it launched its new 10-year strategy that seeks to accelerate inclusive green growth and foster prosperous and resilient economies, building on the achievements made under the High 5s Agenda. It has four main initiatives including the drive to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030, measuring Africa’s green wealth as part of its GDP, an innovative facility to provide Africa with a financial buffer and a roadmap for the continent to achieve inclusive growth and rapid sustainable development. AfDB has various partnership activities in Rwanda in different sectors including infrastructure development, health care, technology advancement, energy, and agriculture.
