BREAKING: MAURITANIA'S SIDI OULD TAH ELECTED NEW AfDB PRESIDENT

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Agency Report

Sidi Ould Tah, a former minister of economics from Mauritania, was chosen on Thursday to take over as president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) from Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina. Tah will also address the removal of US funding from the organisation.

Adesina had to go through six voting rounds in 2015 to become Africa’s “super banker”, but Tah, 60, won the coveted position in just three rounds with 76.18 per percent of the vote.

Senegal’s Amadou Hott came in third place with 3.55 per percent, while Zambian economist Samuel Munzele Maimbo was well behind in second place with 20.26 per percent.

The victor needed to receive a majority of votes from the 54 African countries that are members of the AfDB in addition to a majority of votes from all 81 member countries.

Tah, who headed the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for 10 years, secured 72.37 percent of African votes.

“I wish to congratulate Dr Sidi Ould Tah on his successful election as the President-elect of the African Development Bank Group,” Maimbo said in a statement.

“I entered this race driven by love and deep concern for our continent, and offered a vision for Africa’s future.

“Today, the Governors have chosen the leader they believe will best deliver the vision of the Africa we want at this pivotal moment.”

Tah’s expertise at the BADEA could serve as a bridge with sub-Saharan Africa, as several North African states are members of the AfDB.

He pledged to fortify regional financial institutions, establish Africa’s financial independence in international markets, leverage population expansion as a development lever, and construct infrastructure resistant to climate change in his bid for the AfDB leadership.

One of the biggest multilateral development banks in the world, the AfDB was established in 1964 and is financed by member subscriptions, loans obtained on international markets, loan repayments, and loan revenue.

However, Tah will have to deal with a shattered global economic landscape right away, particularly as a result of US Trump administration initiatives.

Beyond tariffs, the AfDB is also facing the threat of losing 500 million dollars in US funding for its projects to support low income countries on the continent.

All five candidates in the running for the top job promised to make the AfDB even more effective to transform Africa, continuing Adesina’s five priorities to light up, feed, industrialise, integrate and improve quality of life.

“I am proud of the legacy we are leaving behind for… my successor, for the bank and for Africa,” the outgoing president said in a speech on Tuesday.

“We have built a world-class financial institution that will continue to advance Africa’s position within a rapidly changing global development and geopolitical environment,” he added.

Adesina said 565 million people had benefited from AfDB projects during his decade in charge.

Major projects include support for the construction of the Gabal El Asfar wastewater treatment plant in Egypt — the largest in Africa.

The bank also helped finance a bridge connecting Senegal and the Gambia, expanded the port of Lome in Togo and supported sanitation projects in Lesotho and access to electricity in Kenya, he said.

From 2015 to this year, the bank’s capital more than tripled from $93 billion to $318 billion, he added.

AFP

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