Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania was on Thursday elected President of the African Development Bank Group at the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Tah was elected by the Bank’s Board of Governors, comprising Finance and Economy Ministers or Central Bank Governors of the Bank Group’s 81 regional and non-regional member countries.
The board is the highest decision-making authority for the Bank Group.
The results were announced by the Minister of Planning and Development for Côte d’Ivoire, Nialé Kaba who is also Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank Group.
Addressing the Bank Group’s Governors and the media shortly after the announcement, Tah said, “Let’s go to work now, I’m ready!”
The winning candidate is required to obtain at least 50.01% of both the regional and non-regional votes.
Tah brings over 35 years of experience in African and international finance. He served as president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for 10 years from 2015, where he led a full transformation that quadrupled the Bank’s balance sheet, secured a AAA rating, and positioned it among the top-rated development banks focused on Africa.
A former Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Mauritania, Tah has held senior roles in multilateral institutions and has led crisis response, financial reform, and innovative resource mobilization for Africa.
The Board of Governors Steering Committee received and approved a total of five candidates by the closing date of 31 January 2025. The list of candidates was officially announced on 21 February 2025.
Tah will assume office on 1 September 2025, for a five-year term, following the end of the second mandate of current President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.
Source; Austin Ineh, FRCN, Benin
