I’m highly honoured—Adesina, new AfDB President

Nigeria’s outgoing Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina was yesterday elected as the new President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) at the bank’s Annual General Meeting in Abidjan, Cote D’Ívoire.

This came at the eve of the inauguration of Nigeria’s newly elected President, Muhammadu Buhari.
After six rounds of voting, Adesina defeated seven other contenders for the top job. He secured around 60 percent of the vote.



National Coordinator of RUFIN, Mr Musibau Azzze, confirmed yesterday in Addis Ababa that the Agriculture Minister won the AfDB elections. Adesina will now take over from outgoing bank president, Donald Kaberuka on September 1. The election was part of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Adesina defeated contenders like Sufian Ahmed, Jaloul Ayed, Kordjé Bedoumra, Cristina Duarte, Samura M. W. Kamara,Thomas Z. Sakala and Birama Boubacar Sidibé to become the 50-year-old body’s eighth leader.

Earlier, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari had requested the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to support the candidacy of Adesina as the body’s president. Gen. Buhari had communicated his backing of Dr Adesina’s candidacy to Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, the chairman of ECOWAS, a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, said.

I’m highly honoured—Adesina

Reacting to his victory, Adesina said in an interview that he was highly honoured and delighted. He promised to revolutionalise agriculture in the continent and give it a new face.

The minister said he will not let anybody down, saying his emergence was a straight fight, which he appreciated.

Also reacting, Dr Abimbola Adubi, Agricultural expert with the World Bank, described the outcome of the election as a victory for the continent.

He said Adesina will bring his experience to bear considering what he had done in the agriculture sector in Nigeria and Africa.

Adesina who holds a Ph.D in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University (USA), will take over from outgoing bank President Donald Kaberuka of Rwanda on September 1 to become the leader of the 50-year-old continental bank.

Adesina will have to guide the bank through the continent’s increasingly complex financial environment, where nations are turning to non-traditional partners like China and international debt markets.

Until his appointment as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2011, Adesina was Vice President (Policy and Partnerships) for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), an organisation established with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the goal of bringing a green revolution to Africa, and lifting millions of poor farmers out of poverty and food insecurity.

He has also held senior leadership positions in a number of agricultural institutions in the world.
The newly elected AfDB president has over 20 years of experience in African agriculture, development policy and rural development. He won the Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Research Fellowship in 1988, which initiated his career in international agricultural development. He has worked in senior research positions in international agricultural research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

He joined the Rockefeller Foundation, New York, as a senior scientist for Africa in 1998 and later served as Rockefeller Foundation representative for Southern Africa, based in Harare, Zimbabwe (1999-2003).

He was also an Associate Director (food security) at The Rockefeller Foundation, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Adesina helped to design, inspire and galvanize support for the landmark Africa Fertilizer Summit. He was at different times consultant on agricultural development issues in Africa by the World Economic Forum, World Bank and African Development Bank, among other institutions.

Adesina was a lead organizer of the Africa Fertilizer Summit for African heads of state in 2006. He was instrumental in framing the soil health policies adopted there by over 40 African governments, the African Union the New Partnership of African Development (NEPAD), and other leading global development institutions.