African Development Bank of Africa Looking to Elect New President

By Shamone Nelson | Published on: May 25, 2015 Comments (0)

This week, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank of Africa if you like, will elect a new president to replace Donald Kaberuka, a former Rwandan finance minister, who steps down on August 31 after a decade in charge.

While the race to succeed Kaberuka remains unpredictable, three candidates stand out.

The Nigerian agriculture minister Akinwumi Adesina is considered one of the favorites. Hailing from the largest economy on the continent affords him some cache and influence among member states. With a fondness for bow ties, he has struck a more populist tone, saying the bank needs to be more “inclusive” to ensure the “greatest number” benefit from its $33 billion largesse, with a particular focus on agriculture as one way of doing that.

Cape Verde’s finance minister Cristina Duarte, whose pitch centers around improving the bank’s efficiency and exuding a more focused posture in its investments, has also been touted as a strong contender. The only woman in the race, Duarte has suggested that at times the AfDB’s bureaucracy has been slow in disbursing of funds, impacting the pace of execution of projects.

“The bank has limited resources and has to focus on where it has competitive advantage,” she says in her vision statement.

Ethiopia has been one of the fastest growing economies in the region. Sufian Ahmed, the country’s finance minister, and the man who oversaw its growth, is leveraging that fact, giving his campaign significant credibility.

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