Mauritanian economist is AfDB President

Blitz Bureau

Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania was on May 29 elected President of the African Development Bank Group at the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire/ He formerly served as the Finance Minister of Mauritania.

Tah replaces Akinwumi Adesina, a Nigerian economist, who will step down in September after completing the maximum two five-year terms in office. ”Tah brings over 35 years of experience in African and international finance. He served as President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for 10 years from 2015, where he led a full transformation that quadrupled the Bank’s balance sheet, secured a AAA rating, and positioned it among the top-rated development banks focused on Africa,” the bank said in a press statement. In total, five candidates contested for the bank’s top job. The others were Amadou Hott (Senegal), Samuel Maimbo (Zambia), Mahamat Abbas Tolli (Chad) and Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala (South Africa). The winning candidate is required to obtain at least 50.01 per cent of the vote.

Challenging times

Tah’s mandate will commence September 1, 2025, for a five-year term, after which he will be eligible to seek another.

His election comes at a time when African nations are battling aid freezes and cuts by Washington, and reduced infrastructure spending and lending by China.

Trade tariffs announced by Washington have also dampened investor confidence at a time when interest rates remain high, meaning higher debt servicing costs for African borrowers. Just this week, the bank downgraded the continent’s growth forecasts citing “seismic shifts in the trade policies of major economies.” But it was hopeful that African economies would stay resilient ‘despite climate shocks, economic disruption, and a shifting geopolitical landscape’.

Resource mobilsation

Tah is credited for establishing BADEA’s $1 billion callable capital programme for African MDBs. During his campaign, he pledged to prioritise resource mobilisation, reforming the financial architecture, harnessing Africa’s demographic divided, and investing in resilient infrastructure. The AfDB is owned by 54 African states and non-regional nations including the U.S., Japan and Saudi Arabia. The bank’s biggest shareholder is Nigeria.

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