Adesina begins next 5yrs journey as AfDB re-elected President

Dr Akinwumi Adesina was Tuesday sworn-in as the newly re-elected eighth President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a second term.

The swearing-in ceremony and oath-taking took place virtually.

The event was attended by Heads of States, Governors, Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and over 200 external stakeholders who joined physically and virtually.

The Chairperson of the AfDB board of Governors and Ghana’s Finance Minister, Kenneth Ofori-Attah, administered the oath of office.

Dr Adesina, Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, was re-elected on August 27 to serve a second five-year term, after a unanimous vote of all Governors, regional and non-regional members of the Bank.

The election which was announced by the former Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Bank, Mrs Niale Kaba, Minister of National Planning of Côte d’Ivoire, took place on the last day of the 2020 55th Annual Meetings.

The AfDB President described his re-election as historic, becoming the first President of the bank to be re-elected by 100 per cent votes of all its shareholders and the first Nigerian to hold the post.

During his first 5-year term in office, the bank focused on five key 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.

The bank, Africa’s premier development finance institution, comprising of 54 regional and 27 non-regional member countries, was able to impact the lives of 335 million Africans.