SA candidate may become first woman to run African Development Bank
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The African Development Bank, the continent's largest home-grown multilateral lender, will elect its new leader on Thursday.
Five candidates are vying for the job as the institution confronts multiple challenges, including aid cuts to Africa, the withdrawal of support by US President Donald Trump and the fallout from his trade war.
A rare source of long-term finance in the region, on projects that the private sector often view as too risky, the AfDB's performance and the success of its leadership is critical to Africa's future.
The president of the bank, which was founded in 1964 to promote regional development, will be elected by its 81 member states to a five-year term, which can be renewed once.
The winner needs to secure at least 50% of the total votes of the African member countries and 50% of the votes of all member countries. A nation's vote is based on its share of AfDB's capital.
Here's a quick snapshot of the candidates:
Sidi Ould Tah
Mauritania's Sidi Ould Tah, who recently stepped down as the president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, enters the AfDB presidential race flourishing his connections to oil-rich Middle Eastern nations, which he would use to broaden the bank's funding sources at a vital moment.
Earlier this month, Trump proposed a $555 million funding cut to the African Development Fund, the bank's lending arm for low-income countries. Other Western countries are pulling back on development aid to meet domestic needs, including to boost spending on defense.
'We're not really tapping all the potential of this region, which has excess of liquidity and also has many development finance institutions which are providing very low cost financing,' Tah, a former finance minister of his country, said in an interview.
Amadou Hott
Senegal's Amadou Hott advocates for self help to finance AfDB's operations.
Africa's wealthy individuals hold about $2.5 trillion in assets, with another $2 trillion managed by pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurers, said Hott, who stepped down last year as special envoy to the AfDB president responsible for the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa.
'The real breakthrough will come when we unlock our own $4.5 trillion in domestic savings and investment capacity,' he said.
Hott also backs setting up an African rating company, which is set to launch later this year, that he says can help regional sovereign borrow on cheaper terms.
Abbas Mahamat Tolli
Chad's Abbas Mahamat Tolli wants to prioritize investment in critical infrastructure, increasing regional members' resilience to climate change and improving food security.
He says the private sector must be mobilized to help fill an infrastructure funding gap the AfDB estimates at $150 billion to build the roads, railways, energy and education institutions Africa needs to ease poverty and spur development.
'The traditional resources of multilateral institutions will not be sufficient to initiate this massive volume of investment,' Tolli told the Chadian news site Tchadinfos. 'We must find ways and means to also interest the private sector in mobilizing more financing.'
Tolli served as governor of the regional Bank of Central African States from 2017 until last year.
Swazi Tshabalala
South Africa's Swazi Tshabalala says the AfDB must be more 'selective in its focus.'
READ | Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala eyes African Development Bank presidency
Tshabalala, who served as the bank's vice president from 2020 until October, when she stood down to run for president, says job number one is tackling Africa's infrastructure gap.
'Unless we address that, nothing else is possible,' she said in an interview. She would fast-track infrastructure projects and seek financial support from the private sector and the AfDB's non-regional members including Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Germany.
If elected, Tshabalala will be the first woman to run the AfDB in its history.
Samuel Maimbo
Zambia's Samuel Maimbo has the backing of two regional blocs – the Southern African Development Community, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. He's a vice president at the World Bank, where he oversaw the record $93 billion fundraising for the world's poorest countries that closed in 2021. Maimbo was also chief of staff to World Bank presidents David Malpass and Ajay Banga.
He plans to engage the US to preserve its support for the AfDB, calling Trump's recommendation to cut its funding a 'wake-up call.' The US is the third-biggest contributor to the fund after the UK and Germany and a funding cut would have 'a huge impact on Africa's development,' Maimbo said in an interview.
If elected, Maimbo would start by overseeing the AfDB's latest replenishment, in which it aims to raise a record $25 billion. He would also direct financial support toward sectors that will create jobs for Africa's young population, including the local film industry.
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