Akinwumi Adesina Sworn-In for Second Term as AfDB President

By Adedapo Adesanya

Mr Akinwumi Adesina has been sworn-in as the newly re-elected eighth President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a second five-year term.

The swearing-in ceremony and oath-taking took place on Tuesday, September 1 at the regional lender headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and was held virtually.

The event was attended by Heads of States, Governors, Nigeria’s former Vice President, Mr Atiku Abubakar, and over 200 external stakeholders who joined either physically or virtually.

The Chairperson of the AfDB board of Governors and Ghana’s Finance Minister, Mr Kenneth Ofori-Attah, administered the oath of office.

During his speech, he said, “We will drive Africa’s growth further, deeper and faster to build a stronger and more resilient Africa.”

Mr Adesina, Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, was re-elected at the 55th Annual Meetings on August 27 to serve another five-year term, after a unanimous vote of all Governors, regional and non-regional members of the Bank confirmed him. He ran as the sole candidate.

The election was announced by the former Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Bank, Mrs Niale Kaba, Minister of National Planning of Côte d’Ivoire.

The AfDB President described his re-election as historic, becoming the first President of the bank to be re-elected by 100 per cent votes of all its shareholders and the first Nigerian to hold the post.

During his first 5-year tenure, the bank focused on five key development priorities known as the High 5s: Light up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.

The bank, Africa’s premier development finance institution, comprising of 54 regional and 27 non-regional member countries, was able to impact the lives of 335 million Africans.

Business Post has earlier reported that Nigeria increased its stake and voting right at the multilateral financing body to 18.6 per cent, making it the largest stakeholder followed by Germany and the United States at 7.8 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.