Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has been sworn in as the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a second term.
Adesina was sworn in on Tuesday at the AfDB headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, in an event that was broadcast virtually.
The Chairperson of the AfDB board of Governors and Ghana’s Finance Minister, Kenneth Ofori-Attah, administered the oath of office in an event attended by Heads of States, Governors, Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and over 200 external stakeholders who joined physically and virtually.
Adesina was re-elected for another five years on August 27 after getting a 100 percent vote of all regional and non-regional members of the Bank.
He is the first Nigerian to be elected and re-elected to serve as the bank’s President.
After his victory, Adesina who thanked the stakeholders for his victory, says the call to serve at the AfDB “is yet another call for selfless service to Africa and the African Development Bank, to which I will passionately devote myself”
“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,” he adds.
During Adesina’s first term, the Bank 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 125% 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
“The African Development Fund received a $7.6 billion pledge from donors, a 32% increase, for support to low-income countries and fragile states. The Bank was ranked the 4th most transparent institution globally by Publish What You Fund, bolstering its strong governance credentials for transparency and accountability.
“The African Development Bank’s Board of Directors approved a $10 billion facility to support African countries to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank also launched a $3 billion COVID-19 social bond on the global capital markets, the highest US dollar denominated social bond ever in world history, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, Luxembourg Stock Exchange and NASDAQ,” the statement added.