Deborah Akinyosoye
Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah has been elected as the ninth president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) as Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina prepares to bow out.
The Bank announced his election on its website on Thursday.
Adesina’s 10-year tenure will end this year and Tah is expected to assume office on September 1, 2025.
Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The Board comprises finance ministers and central bank governors from the Bank’s 81 member countries.
Tah defeated four other contenders, including Amadou Hott of Senegal, Samuel Maimbo of Zambia, Abbas Mahamat Tolli of Chad, and Swazi Tshabalala of South Africa.
Tah holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, France.
He has served as Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and later as Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.
Tah, whose campaign was hinged on improving Africa’s growth, has also undergone executive training at Harvard University and the London Business School.
He promised that his leadership of the AfDB will mobilise private capital, integrate the informal sector into the formal economy, deepen the bank’s partnerships with the private sector and enhance its response to climate change.