Abidjan: Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania has been elected as the 9th president of The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group during the Bank’s Annual Meetings in Abidjan, C´te d’Ivoire. Tah emerged victorious after three rounds of voting, surpassing four other candidates to secure the leadership of the pan-African institution for a five-year term.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, Tah’s election was confirmed by the Bank’s Board of Governors, which includes Finance and Economy Ministers or Central Bank Governors from the Bank Group’s 81 regional and non-regional member countries. The Board serves as the highest decision-making authority for the Bank Group. The announcement of the election results was made by Niale Kaba, C´te d’Ivoire’s Minister of Planning and Development and Chairman of the Bank Group’s Board of Governors.
The election process required the winning candidate to secure at least 50.01% of both regional and non-regional votes, as noted on the AfDB’s website. Tah, a Mauritanian national, brings over 35 years of experience in African and international finance. His tenure as president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) from 2015 saw significant achievements, including a transformation of the Bank, a quadrupled balance sheet, a AAA rating, and a position among the top-rated development banks focused on Africa.
Before his role at BADEA, Tah served as Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance and has held senior roles in multilateral institutions. His leadership included initiatives in crisis response, financial reform, and innovative resource mobilization for Africa, notably establishing BADEA’s $1 billion callable capital program for African MDBs.
The Board of Governors Steering Committee received and approved a total of five candidates by the closing date of January 31, 2025. The official list of candidates was announced on February 21, 2025.