On August 27, 2020, many embittered interests and blocs sheathed their swords when the board of directors reelected Akinwumi Adesina, as the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), for another five-year term.
Observers noted that all have been well in his first five-year term early this year, when he declared interest for running another term, citing many reasons, especially the need for unity to enable the continent to pull together and stay focused on the goal of fighting the effect of the pandemic on Africa’s economy .
That declaration in early this year by Adesina, a former Nigerian minister of Agriculture, amounted to declaration of war by blocs opposing his reelection, especially Germany and the United States of America, non-regional members who control 7.4 percent and 5.5 percent rights holdings respectively in bank.
As expected, the blocs went further in their opposition of Adesina’s reelection by filling many allegations. It would be recalled that a group of concerned staff of the bank sent a petition containing 16 allegations against Adesina to the ethics committee of the board of directors of the continental bank.
In another petition, other interests alleged that Adesina cannot seek reelection because he breached the bank’s code of conduct, including “unethical conduct, private gain, an impediment to efficiency, preferential treatment, and involvement in political activities.
However, Adesina was given opportunity by the ethics committee of the board of directors to defend himself, of which he did and even submitted confidential memo.
Having gone through the allegations and reviewed them, on May 5, the ethics committee of the board of directors of the continental bank said in its report that Adesina was not guilty of any of the 16 allegations contained in a petition brought before it.
Takuji Yano, head of the committee and AfDB’s Japanese executive director, described the allegations as spurious and unfounded claims and that Adesina did not violate the code of conduct of the Bank.
But the U.S. government was not happy with the outcome, and was deliberately pushing for a fresh probe of allegations of impropriety and fraud against Adesina. Few days after the committee’s clearance, Steven Mnuchin, secretary, Department of Treasury, United States of America, wrote and faulted the committee’s decision to totally exonerate Adesina of all allegations.
At this point, it became obvious that the West does not want Adesina back on the elevated seat.
The reason, according to some experts, may be linked to the presumed pro-China stance of Adesina. Adesina has welcomed Chinese investment and partnerships with banks such as the Export-Import Bank of China, China Development Bank, and Agricultural Bank of China, alongside other initiatives such as Chinese-financed special agro-industrial processing zones across Africa.
For the US, the pro China move is against its newly formed International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which the US is seeking to use to play an increased development finance role in Africa, amid signing a memorandum of understanding with the AfDB in November 2019 to mobilise private capital to support Africa’s development.
Of course, Nigeria did not leave her own. There were campaigns across the country and to friends of the country for their support in reelecting Adesina. There were many meetings, consultations at Aso Rock and other places to build pressure against the opposition.
Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian president, also expressed his support for the reelection on severally. He even took to his twitter account @MBuhari to express his support saying; “Nigeria stands solidly behind @akin_adesina in his re-election bid as President of the African Development Bank (AfDB). We will work with all leaders, and stakeholders in AfDB, to ensure that he re-elected, on the strength of his achievements during this first term”.
Despite the allegations and fierce opposition, on Thursday August 27, 2020, Adesina was reelected for another five-year term at AfDBs’ 2020 Annual Meeting, amid an election, which took place electronically.
Meanwhile, the embattled Adesina, who survived whistleblowers and allegations, emerged victorious by collaborative efforts of African countries and his laudable feats in the first term.
Of course, Nigeria, which is the biggest rights holder in the bank, used it voting power to influence things in Adesina’s favour.
Like president Buhari rightly pointed out, Adesina was truly reelected on the strength of his achievements during this first term.
On assuming office, he implemented the five strategic goals for Africa’s development, called the “High 5s, enabled 18 million Africans to have access to electricity, 141 million people benefitted from improved agricultural technologies for food security, 15 million people have access to finance, 101 million people have access to improved transport and 60 million people have gained access to water and sanitation.
During his first term, the bank launched a $10 billion Covid-19 Response Facility to support African countries, and a $3 billion social bond on the global market – the largest US dollar-denominated social bond ever in world history.”
Now that he is back on the job for a second term, Nigerians are urging Adesina to do more. Well, they repose confidence in him judging by his excellent performance as a minister during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and the laudable feats of his first term.
It is time to do more, and your time starts now Adesina!
