Akinwumi Adesina yesterday became the eighth President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) after winning in a tight race.
Cape Verde’s Cristina Duarte, the first woman to seek the post, Chad’s Finance Minister Kordje Bedoumra and Adesina, were the only remaining candidates in the race after shareholders dropped five candidates in quick succession.
The election was part of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast capital.
“I’m honoured and humbled by support I’ve received and the confidence placed in me. Our best days are ahead,” Adesina, 55, tweeted minutes after he was announced the winner.
Mr Adesina and Ms Duarte were considered strong candidates even before the voting began but the endurance of Mr Bedoumra remained an element of surprise in the race.
Thomas Sakala of Zimbabwe who was backed by the South African Development Community bowed out less than 40 minutes after Tunisia’s Jaloul Ayed was eliminated in the afternoon session.
Three candidates – Sufian Ahmed of Ethiopia, Birama Sidibe of Mali and Sumara Kamara of Sierra Leone were eliminated in the morning session.
Mr Ahmed is the candidate who was being supported by East African countries with the exception of Tanzania, a member of SADC which was supporting Zimbabwean Thomas Sakala as a bloc.
Mr Adesina enjoyed the backing of Nigeria and to some extent countries in the ECOWAS sub region – a constituency which Ms Duarte, who was backed by mostly non-African shareholders of the bank – had also courted.
Mr Bedoumra, a former AfDB vice president, is believed to have got the backing of Francophone Africa for which he was the only one remaining in the race.
President Muhammadu Buhari, then president-elect, took over Adesina’s campaign after former president Olusegun Obasanjo enlisted his support.
Buhari sent emissaries including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to South Africa. Atiku is a known close friend of South African President Jacob Zuma.
Mr Adesina will succeed Dr Kaberuka who steps down from the bank on September 1, after serving two terms.
Dr Kaberuka took the reins of AfDB in 2005 with a commanding mandate of 78 per cent from the shareholders during a special general meeting after a stalemate with a Nigerian candidate during the annual assembly.