President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday dispatched a special envoy to the President Donald Trump of the United States to interface with the American government over the re-election bid of Akinwumi Adesina for the Presidency of the African Development Bank, AfDB.
The President named Mustapha Chike Obi as his Special Envoy with a special message from the Nigerian President in a strong bid to woo the US government support for Adesina’s re-election as AfDB President
The President had following allegations of misdemeanor against Adesina and calls for investigations into his leadership of the bank, vowed that Nigeria will stand solidly behind Akinwumi Adesina in his bid to get re-elected as President of the African Development Bank (AfDB)
“In 2015, when you were to be elected for the first term, I wrote to all African leaders, recommending you for the position. I didn’t say because you were a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Minister, and I belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC), so I would withhold my support. I’ll remain consistent with you, because no one has faulted the step I took on behalf of Nigeria,” said President Buhari.
The President pledged that Nigeria would work with all other leaders and stakeholders in AfDB to ensure that Dr Adesina was elected for a second term built on the record of his achievements during his first term.
The African Union had also earlier endorsed the incumbent AfDB President as sole candidate for the continent, but some other stakeholders are trying to ensure that Adesina is re-investigated on some allegations, and rendered ineligible to run.
Giving a background to what was happening in the bank, Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister for Agriculture, said the 16 allegations raised against him were trumped up, “and without facts, evidence, and documents, as required by the rules and regulations of the bank.”
He added that the Ethics Committee of the bank cleared him of all the allegations, and calls for fresh investigation by the United States of America, were against the rules.
“My defense ran into 250 pages, and not a single line was faulted or questioned. The law says that report of the Ethics Committee should be transmitted to the Chairman of Governors of the bank. It was done, and the governors upheld the recommendations.
That was the end of the matter, according to the rules. It was only if I was culpable that a fresh investigation could be launched. I was exonerated, and any other investigation would amount to bending the rules of the bank, to arrive at a predetermined conclusion,” Adesina said.
Stressing that the motive was to soil his name, and that of the bank, the AfDB President said he was proud to be Nigerian, and thanked President Buhari for his unflinching support.
“You helped me to get elected in the first place, and you have supported me robustly all along, and the African Union unanimously endorsed my re-election” he declared.
Against the backdrop of heavy infrastructure deficit, the AfDB President had been a major supporter of massive plans to lift the continent’s infrastructure development
Akinwunmi speaking after a recent meeting with President Muhammmadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa , Abuja, stated that African countries with over $1.8trillion pension and sovereign wealth assets, could leverage on such huge resources to development infrastructure in the continent
This is against the backdrop of the continent’s infrastructure deficit gap valued at about $108b
“ Africa countries have an infrastructure gap of between $68billion to $108bn, which could be adequately addressed by utilising the $1.8tn accrued pension and sovereign wealth funds.”
According to Adesina, “charity begins at home, with such huge resources, African governments have no need looking elsewhere to seek funds for development or investing the funds”
Adesina explained that with good infrastructure, Africa would be better positioned to compete favourably in trading with others.
He commended the continent leaders for increasing the banks shareholders funds to $115bn, and assured that the bank would was now better placed to continue to support the development of infrastructure on the continent,
“Today, Africa has an infrastructure gap of about roughly $68bn to $108bn infrastructure financing gap. At the AfDB, we have been working so hard to close that particular gap.
“When it comes to the issue of attracting capital to do that, there are three things that I will say; first, we have to also look at home. Today, in Africa, the size of the sovereign wealth fund and pension fund and insurance pull of fund (mutual funds) is about $1.8tn.
“If we can just tap a little part of that, we will close very quickly the infrastructure gap that we are talking about. But, you see a lot of sovereign investment funds being invested in other sovereigns outside the continent.
“So, they become the sovereign wealth of others and then you go back and borrow back your own money; it doesn’t really make a lot of sense. I say that charity always begins at home.”
On the proposed single currency for the Economic Community of West Africa sub-region, the Eco, the AfDB President described it as a good development for West African countries.
Adesina described the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement as the best thing that has happened to the continent, adding that with a unified currency for the sub-region, it also meant it would be better placed to compete with the rest of Africa.
“I support the Eco fully,” Adesina said, adding that the AFCTA is “the biggest thing thing to happen to Africa”.
“I think that at the end of the day the biggest thing to happen to Africa is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). That free trade area itself is worth over $3.3 trillion in terms of trade. Obviously been able to trade in various currencies, it’s not optimum to trade in so many currencies.
“So, it makes common sense to have a unified currency and of course for that to even be achieved, the Eco; I support Eco greatly. I think it’s a great idea to do.
“But, obviously, there are a number of convergence criteria that will have to be met and I am sure that our President is talking with other presidents to be sure that they can meet those criteria and the region can be fully integrated.”
