Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank
(AfDB) Group, says he “gave Africa his heart”, fighting for the continent’s
best interest in the last 10 years of leading the institution.
Adesina spoke at the bank’s annual meetings opening ceremony
on Tuesday in Cotê D’ivoire, which marks his last meeting as the AfDB
president.
In his speech, the economist gave an account of his
stewardship, and recognised the contributions of several stakeholders to his
success.
“I earnestly gave Africa my heart, my mind and my all. I
fought for what I believed were in Africa’s best interest, every single day and
at every turn in my 10 years as President,” he said.
“I will continue to serve Africa today and well into the
future by God’s grace. I am thoroughly convinced that He did not make a mistake
in creating me as an African.”
Speaking on his achievements, Adesina said the lender has
disbursed about $59 billion in loans to the continent’s financial institutions
in the last 10 years.
“The total disbursements of the bank’s group in the last 10
years alone at $59 billion represents almost half of all the disbursements in
the history of the African Development Bank group,” he said.
The economist said since the establishment of the AfDB in
1964 until 2014, the bank approved $118 billion loan to financial institutions
on the continent.
“However, in the past 10 years alone, under my presidency,
with our boards of directors and my staff, our total approvals were $102
billion,” he said.
“That represents 46 percent of all the approvals in the
history of the African Development Bank group.”
The AfDB president said the group has also “ramped up our
disbursements”.
“These are not just numbers. Thanks to your collective
support, these represent a new dynamism, a scale of the transformative impact
of the AfDB Group that at any point in its history, we provided significant
financial support to African financial institutions,” Adesina said.
He said the institutions ranged from commercial banks to
regional development financing institutions and “multilateral development
financing institutions, boosting their capital bases”.
‘AfDB GREW CAPITAL TO $318BN UNDER MY TENURE’
Speaking further, the AfDB boss said the bank has
significantly strengthened the financial architecture in Africa, with its
capital rising from $93 billion in 2015 to $318 billion in 2025.
“Thanks to our African Development Fund donors, we raised
$8.9 billion for ADF16, the largest ever in the history of the Fund since
1973,” he said.
“We innovated and developed a new financial framework that
will allow the ADF to mobilize $27 billion from global capital markets.
“The shareholders of the Bank showed extraordinary support
and confidence in our leadership and management of the Bank.
“When I was first elected President of the Bank in 2015 the
capital of the Bank stood at $93 billion. From 2015 to 2025, we have grown the
Bank’s capital from $93 billion to $318 billion.”
Adesina said the bank put the expanded capital into
“remarkable use with unprecedented financial support to all of our African
countries”.
The AfDB boss said the bank has worked closely with the African
Union to support the organisation.
“This includes the provision of $11.5 million in
institutional support, over $17 million to the African Continental Free Trade
Area, and over $27 million to the African Centre for Disease Control,” he said.
“The African Investment Forum, launched by the Bank and its
partners in 2018 has since mobilized $225 billion in investment interests in
Africa, across several projects.”
Adesina noted that the work of the AfDB “has impacted the
lives of 565 million people” in the past decade.
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