African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina was on Thursday reelected by the Bank’s Board of Governors, the AfDB said.
The election took place on the final day of the 2020 Annual Meetings of the AfDB which were held virtually due to disruptions occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adesina will serve a second five-year term beginning on September 1, having being first elected to the position in May 2015.
The election was one of the statutory issues to be conducted during the Meetings as most of the normal knowledge events were cancelled.
Adesina said he was “deeply grateful” for the trust, confidence and support of the AfDB’s shareholders for electing him for a second term.
“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,” Adesina said.
Adesina’s reelection bid had faced a serious hurdle following abuse of allegations leveled against him.
Whistleblowers in January accused Adesina of abuses of office including favouritism in hiring fellow Nigerians, and giving out overly generous severance packages.
A report by the bank’s ethics board in April cleared him of wrongdoing but the United States, AfDB’s second-largest shareholder, rejected the internal investigation and demanded an independent panel review the case.
An independent review in July subsequently found that the Bank had rightly cleared him of those allegations.
Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Bank Niale Kaba expressed delight at Adesina’s reelection.
“As shareholders, we strongly support the Bank and will give him all the necessary support to carry forward and implement his compelling vision for the Bank over the next five years,” Kaba said.
The AfDB said that Adesina’s first term saw the Bank achieve impactful results on the lives of millions of Africans and maintain its AAA-ratings by all major global credit rating agencies for five years in a row.
