After 3,650 days at the helm of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina is stepping down. His decade-long presidency was defined not by donor pledges but by an audacious idea: Africa did not need aid; it needed investment.
When he took charge in 2015, the AfDB was seen as a cautious lender, funding incremental projects. By 2025, its capital base had tripled, infrastructure deals spanned from the Sahel’s solar corridors to Mozambique’s gas fields, and billions had been channeled
After 3,650 days at the helm of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina is stepping down. His decade-long presidency was defined not by donor pledges but by an audacious idea: Africa did not need aid; it needed investment.
When he took charge in 2015, the AfDB was seen as a cautious lender, funding incremental projects. By 2025, its capital base had tripled, infrastructure deals spanned from the Sahel’s solar corridors to Mozambique’s gas fields, and billions had been channeled
