Former Minister of Agriculture, Mr Akinwunmi Adesina has been re-elected as the President of the African Development Bank for another five years tenure.
The election took during the annual general of the bank which took place online
His re-election as President is considered more or less a formality as he didn’t have any opponent vying for the post.
Akinwummi Adesina recently asked for another five-year term during one of the virtual general assembly meetings as to be appealed to them that he is “doing it with an acute sense of duty and commitment.”
He also said;
“I do it to serve Africa and our bank, in an unbiased way, to the best of the abilities that God has given me.”
Akinwunmi Adesina, a first class graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University received showers of praises and global recognition when under his watch as President last October, the AfDB secured $115 billion (105 billion euros) in funding pledges, a move that doubled its capital and cemented its triple-A credit rating.
During his first tenure, the shareholders in the 56-year-old bank increased to 81 with Fifty-four shareholders are Africans, while the others are from the Americas, Asia and Europe.
However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AFDB has estimated that the continent could lose up to the continent could lose at least $173.1 billion in GDP in 2020 and $236.7 billion in 2021.