Swazi Tshabalala for AfDB president: a proven leader for a defining African moment
At a time when Africa's development trajectory is at once urgent and uncertain, the African Development Bank (AfDB) stands not merely as a financier but as a standard bearer for continental ambition.
What it needs now is not just a competent manager of funds, but a leader who understands the weight of the moment, someone whose voice carries both technical authority and moral clarity. Swazi Tshabalala is that leader.
Her candidacy for president of the AfDB should not be viewed as symbolic or tokenistic. It is, in fact, a pragmatic, necessary step towards aligning the institution with the Africa it serves; a dynamic, diverse and increasingly self-determined continent.
Pan-African credentials with global clout
Those who understand the inner workings of multilateral finance know Tshabalala as a seasoned, strategic and steady presence. She has occupied some of the most complex spaces in global finance, and walked the corridors of power in Washington and Addis Ababa, including as deputy executive director at the International Monetary Fund, where she represented 23 African nations.
Tshabalala is respected across regional and ideological lines, in francophone and anglophone blocs alike, because she listens, learns and leads effectively
Her leadership has shifted conversations at the G20, the UN and AU, not because she spoke the loudest, but because she always made the most sense. Her tenure at the AfDB itself, where she served as vice-president for finance and CFO , gives her an insider's understanding of what the bank does well — and what it must do better. Under Tshabalala's leadership as CFO, the AfDB was recognised as the 'Best Multilateral Development Bank' in 2021 by Global Finance due to her leadership, strategic vision and commitment to financial excellence.
Technocratic depth, transformational vision and results
Tshabalala doesn't wear her resume like a medal. She wears it like armour. Behind the enviable qualifications is a woman who has spent her life making sure development means something more than graphs and reports. Her policy expertise spans fiscal reform, climate finance, gender-responsive budgeting and debt restructuring. But she has also sat with ministers facing fiscal collapse, civil servants stretched thin by global multilateral institutions' conditions and grassroots women's groups demanding to be seen in national budgets. She doesn't just speak about inclusive growth — she has structured it, defended it and delivered it.
A unifier in a polarised world
Africa doesn't need another technocrat who speaks in acronyms or a populist who speaks in platitudes. What it needs is someone who understands that diplomacy is not the opposite of principle. Tshabalala is respected across regional and ideological lines, in francophone and anglophone blocs alike, because she listens, learns and leads effectively.
In a fragmented geopolitical moment, her candidacy offers something rare: the promise of coherence without compromise, of pragmatic pan-Africanism with precision.
The moment meets the candidate
This is no ordinary election. The AfDB presidency is one of the most consequential African leadership posts outside government. The stakes — climate resilience, infrastructure gaps, youth unemployment, food insecurity and the digital divide are real, immediate and urgent. They are African. And they require a president who knows that development is not just about money — it's about taking action.
Tshabalala understands that. She understands that Africa doesn't just need loans. It needs leverage — and leadership that commands respect, not just requests support.
A mandate for the future
In backing Tshabalala, Africa would be making a bold and necessary choice — not just to break tradition, but to reset it. It would be choosing substance over spectacle, integrity over influence and a voice that speaks not just for Africa but from it.
When the 54 member AfDB board of governors meet to make a decision for the next president, Tshabalala's name is the only one that makes sense. She does not seek the presidency of the AfDB to decorate her legacy. She seeks it to shape Africa's. And that, frankly, is exactly what the institution and the continent needs right now: a bold reformer, inclusive leader and pragmatic visionary who understands the continent's developmental urgency, can mobilise large-scale finance, unlock private sector participation, champion regional integration and deliver infrastructure that transforms economies and lives.
Africa — and the AfDB — need Swazi Tshabalala urgently.
• Thebe Ikalafeng is a global African thought leader and founder and chair of Brand Africa. He's been to every country in Africa and is the best selling author of The Traveler — Crossing Borders and Connecting Africa
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