By GIFT BRITON
The Executive Council of the Africa Union (AU) is backing Dr Akinwumi Adenesia’s quest for second term election as President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The decision was arrived at during the Thirty-sixth Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 6-7 February, 2020 of the AU summit.
Dr Adenesia was elected into office for the first term by the Bank’s Board of Governors during its first Annual Meetings in Abidjan on May, 2015. He is the Bank’s Eighth President and the first Nigerian in the post.
During his first term in office, there was a landmark approval of $108 billion capital increase by the Bank’s shareholders, towards the end of October,2019. The increase in capital base by around $115 billion has earned him support from the the bank’s Board of Governors.
Dr Adesina is a famous economist who has served in various high-profile capacities, including the Rockefeller Foundation as well as the Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011 to 2015.
The AU Executive is composed of 55 Ministers of Foreign Affairs reperesenting the Member States of the Union.
Dr Adesina has also been endorsed by the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) in December 2019. The election is set to take place at the Bank’s Annual Meetings in May, 2020 in the Ivory Coast’s capital, Abidjan.
Profitability and positive reports is what is expected from finanacial institutions, especially the continent’s foremost financial institutions like the AfDB, in oder to boost the continent’s economy.
