Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah was, on Thursday, elected President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) at the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He takes over from Dr. Akinwumi Adesina of Nigeria.
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 Nialé Kaba, Minister of Planning and Development for Côte d’Ivoire, and 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 January 31, 2025. The list of candidates was officially announced on 21 February 2025.
The other candidates in the election were:
- Amadou Hott (Senegal)
- Samuel Maimbo (Zambia)
- Mahamat Abbas Tolli (Chad)
- Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala (South Africa)
Tah will assume office on September 1, 2025, for a five-year term, following the end of the second mandate of current President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.
The African Development Bank’s past heads since its inception in 1964 are:
- Mamoun Beheiry (Sudan), 1964-1970
- Abdelwahab Labidi (Tunisia), 1970-1976
- Kwame Donkor Fordwor (Ghana), 1976-1980
- Willa Mung’Omba (Zambia), 1980-1985
- Babacar N’diaye (Senegal), 1985-1995
- Omar Kabbaj (Morocco), 1995-2005
- Donald Kaberuka (Rwanda), 2005-2015
- Dr. Akinwumi Adesina (Nigeria), 2015-2025.
The election of a new president comes at a crucial time in the Bank Group’s six decades of existence. Africa has remained resilient despite climate shocks, economic disruption, and a shifting geopolitical landscape, but needs to move faster or risk falling behind on delivering on the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, summed up in the Bank Group’s High 5’s.
The 2025 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group are taking place from May 26 to 30 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire under the theme “Making Africa’s Capital Work Better for Africa’s Development.”
The African Development Bank Group comprises three entities: the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund. Its shareholder countries include 54 African countries or regional member countries, and 27 non-African countries or non-regional member countries.
