been re-elected as the President of the African Development Bank
(AfDB).
Re-elected President of the African Development Bank, Dr
Akinwumi Adesina, will be sworn-in on Tuesday, September 1, to
serve a five-year term.
The ceremony, according to the AfDB in a statement on Monday,
will be held virtually at 9am.
Dr Adesina, Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, was re-elected last week after getting a hundred
percent votes of all regional and non-regional members of the
Bank.
The election took place on the final day of the 2020 Annual
Meetings of the multilateral bank held virtually, and the
Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Bank, Mrs. Niale Kaba,
Minister of National Planning of Côte d’Ivoire announced his
victory, making him the first Nigerian to be elected and re-elected
to serve as the bank’s President.
Dr Adesina’s first term in office focused on new agenda for the
Bank Group based on five development priorities known as the High
5s: Light up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa;
Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of
Africa.
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During his initial 5-year term, the bank was able to impact the
lives of 335 million Africans, including 18 million people with
access to electricity; 141 million people benefiting from improved
agricultural technologies for food security; 15 million people
benefiting from access to finance from private investments; 101
million people provided with access to improved transport; and 60
million people gaining access to water and sanitation.
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In his speech after the announcement, Dr Adesina said, “I am
deeply grateful for the collective trust, strong confidence and
support of our shareholders for electing me for a second term as
President. It is yet another call for selfless service to Africa
and the African Development Bank, to which I will passionately
devote myself.”
Dr Adesina was able to weather the storm of favouritism,
corruption, and other allegations after an independent Review Panel
cleared him of any ethical wrongdoings.
The Panel, chaired by a former President of the Republic of
Ireland, Mary Robinson, was set up by the Bureau of Governors of
the Bank, following a complaint by the United States, to review the
process by which two previous organs of the Bank – the Ethics
Committee of the Board, and the Bureau of the Board of Governors –
had previously exonerated Adesina.
In January this year, Dr Adesina was accused of ethical
misconduct by a group of whistle-blowers on 16 allegations, which
was reviewed by the Bank’s Ethics Committee of the Board of
Directors in March and described the allegations as frivolous and
without merit.
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/08/31/afdb-re-election-adesina-to-be-sworn-in-on-tuesday/