Akinwumi Adesina triumphantly re-elected as head of the African Development Bank

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina was reappointed with 100% of the votes. (illustrative image REUTERS / Thierry Gouegnon

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The shareholders of the African Development Bank unanimously re-elected Akinwumi Adesina. The case of internal whistleblowers will therefore not have left any traces. Adesina is therefore back for a second term of five years. Africa hit hard by the economic crisis following the Covid-19 pandemic has therefore chosen not to jeopardize its main development tool. The AfDB has indeed made economic recovery a priority for the coming years.

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Being alone in the running, Akinwumi Adesina could see his re-election as a formality, but after the storm caused by the accusations of favoritism and prevarication, he needed to unite the shareholders behind him.

Because although exonerated by an independent committee , the flamboyant president of the ADB had been criticized internally for his personnel management. Many executives having left the bank. Obviously, the shareholders have chosen trust. No voice was missed, both among the 54 African shareholders, and within the group of countries and partner institutions. Unwavering unanimity. And for Adesina, total triumph.

It capitalizes a more than honorable balance sheet, Adesina managed the largest increase in capital of the institution, 115 billion dollars. He also reacted vigorously to the Covid-19 pandemic, unlocking ten billion dollars and leading a crisis management applauded by his partners.

For the shareholders of the ADB, we do not change captain in a storm. Because the banker with the famous bow ties warned Wednesday in his inaugural speech that the future looked bleak. Africa has lost ten years of economic gains because of the pandemic. And for Adesina, only a strong and stable ADB will allow the rebound. Conditions which now depend on him alone, for the next five years.

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