Akinwumi Adesina was on Thursday re-elected to serve a second five-year term as President of the African Development Bank Group (AFDB) by the Board of Governors of the Bank.
First elected as President of the Bank on May 28, 2015, Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture will begin his new term on September 1, 2020.
But, the journey to Adesina’s re-election is one that can be likened to a warrior who won an almost impossible battle as he was faced with a lot of issues which would have posed as threats for a second tenure.
Three months before he was expected to be re-elected, the 60-year-old was questioned after a string of corruption and abuse of office allegations from his own staff spilt into the open.
The “Group of Concerned Staff Members of the AfDB” claimed that Adesina has used the bank’s resources for self-promotion and personal gain while also paying out huge but underserved severance packages to staff who resigned mysteriously, and favouring his fellow Nigerians.
Due to the allegation on the first Nigerian to hold the position the US Government at the times called for an independent probe into accusations by the group of whistleblowers, thereby rejecting plans by the bank’s board to stop the investigation on the issue.
A letter dated May 22 was addressed to the Chairperson of the AfDB board of directors, Niale Kaba, stating that the US Treasury Department disagreed with the findings by the bank’s ethics committee that cleared Adesina of any wrongdoing.
According to the US treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, “We have deep reservations about the integrity of the committee’s process. Instead, we urge you to initiate an in-depth investigation of the allegations using the services of an independent outside investigator of high professional standing.”
Chaired by former Irish President, Mary Robinson, a committee to probe the president was setup after much pressure from the US, a member of the bank who came on board in 1983.
In the aftermath, the Ivorian Minister of Development, Kaba Nialé, considered that the conclusions of the ethics committee exonerated Adesina and proposed to the governors “to adopt the conclusions of the investigation by declaring the president completely exonerated of all allegations made against him”.
While the controversy around Adesina’s probe was seen as a potential to affect his chances of getting re-elected he enjoyed the support of a number of African countries after former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo rallied a host of former African heads of state to back the embattled bank chief.
The Nigerian government had thrown its weight behind Adesina. President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly flew with Adesina to Nigeria from the Ivory Coast to offer his support. He has also promised to rally more support from other African countries for Adesina.
“Adesina is the sole candidate and has received the full endorsement of the Africa Union,” Serge Mombouli, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Congo and Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps in the US said in a letter addressed to the United States, the largest non-regional shareholder of AfDB.
While commending Adesina for his visionary leadership and outstanding development results attained by the bank under his tenure, Mombouli urged the US and all other shareholders to “continue to strongly support the president of the Bank and the AfDB group, going forward, especially at this period of global COVID-19 pandemic”.
Fast-forward to August 27, the 55-year-old institution re-elected Adesina as its president and the election result, which gave him a hundred percent of votes of all regional and non-regional members of the Bank, was announced by the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Bank, Kaba, and Minister of National Planning of Côte d’Ivoire.
The election took place on the final day of the 2020 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group, which was held virtually for the first time in the Bank’s history.
“I am delighted that the Board of Governors have re-elected Dr Adesina for a second term in office as President. As shareholders, we strongly support the Bank and will give him all the necessary support to carry forward and implement his compelling vision for the Bank over the next five years,” Minister Kaba said.
According to a statement on AfDB’s website Adesina’s first term focused on the bold new agenda for the Bank Group based on five 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.
During Adesina’s first term, the Bank said it achieved impactful results on the lives of 335 million Africans, including 18 million people with access to electricity; 141 million people benefiting from improved agricultural technologies for food security; 15 million people benefiting from access to finance from private investments; 101 million people provided with access to improved transport; and 60 million people gaining access to water and sanitation.
The Bank has maintained its AAA-ratings by all major global credit rating agencies for five years in a row. The Board of Governors of the Bank Group approved a 125percent increase in the General Capital of the Bank, raising its capital from $93 billion to $208 billion, the largest in the history of the Bank.
“I am deeply grateful for the collective trust, strong confidence and support of our shareholders for electing me for a second term as President. It is yet another call for selfless service to Africa and the African Development Bank, to which I will passionately devote myself,” Adesina said.
The African Development Bank is Africa’s premier development finance institution, comprising 54 regional and 27 non-regional member countries.
“The future beckons us for a more developed Africa and a much stronger and resilient African Development Bank Group. We will build on the strong foundations of success in the past five years, while further strengthening the institution, for greater effectiveness and impacts,” Adesina said.
