Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah elected AfDB president, succeeding Akinwumi Adesina after close vote

African Development Bank’s outgoing president Akinwumi Adesina (left) with his newly-elected successor Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania. (Photo: Courtesy)

By Mwangi Maina
Thursday, May 29, 2025

Tah, who officially begins his five-year term on September 1, 2025, brings over 35 years of financial and development experience, most recently leading the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa through a sweeping institutional transformation.

During the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) annual meetings in Abidjan, Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah was elected as the new president of the Bank Group in a closely watched vote. He succeeds Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina, whose decade-long tenure concludes this August.

The results were announced on Wednesday by the Board of Governors the Bank’s highest decision-making body comprising finance ministers and central bank governors from its 81 regional and non-regional member states.

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Tah secured the required threshold of 50.01 per cent from both regional and non-regional blocs, in what insiders described as a disciplined yet competitive race.

He is set to begin his five-year term on 1 September 2025, bringing with him over 35 years of experience in finance and development. Most recently, he led the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) through a sweeping institutional transformation.

Under his leadership, BADEA quadrupled its balance sheet, achieved a AAA rating, and emerged as one of the continent’s most robust development banks.

A former Mauritanian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Tah is recognised for his steady leadership in crisis response, resource mobilisation, and promoting policy coherence across the continent, according to the AfDB.

One of his flagship initiatives at BADEA—the launch of a $1 billion callable capital programme for African Multilateral Development Banks—was hailed by analysts as a rare instance of financial ambition matched by delivery.

The race for the presidency was crowded. Other contenders included Amadou Hott (Senegal), Samuel Maimbo (Zambia), Mahamat Abbas Tolli (Chad), and Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala (South Africa)—each known for their regional expertise and technocratic credibility.

This leadership transition comes at a pivotal moment. With the AfDB marking its 60th anniversary, there are heightened expectations for greater alignment with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, as well as for advancing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals amid growing climate shocks and geopolitical fragmentation.

Tah’s programme is anchored on four key pillars: strengthening regional financial institutions; asserting Africa’s financial independence in global markets; leveraging demographic dynamics as a tool for development; and building climate-resilient infrastructure.

His team has emphasised his capacity to replicate BADEA’s successes at a larger institution like the AfDB, which holds $318 billion in capital.

“The AfDB has to abandon traditional bureaucratic models for a more fluid approach based on results,” he said.

Tah, who served as Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance from 2008 to 2015, is calling for a “break with the approaches of the past”, in a world where “the challenges and opportunities of Africa have taken a new dimension”.

The incoming AfDB president is fluent in French, English, Arabic and Wolof, the latter widely spoken in West Africa.

He achieved the notable feat of rallying support from diplomatically diverse nations—from Sahel countries such as Mali to France. His score of over 72 per cent among African voters lends him strong continental legitimacy. His team had claimed prior to the vote that he enjoyed backing from all African regions from the first round.

Although the administration of former US President Donald Trump had vowed to suspend $500 million in aid to the AfDB, Tah has maintained that other financial backers, such as Gulf nations, could step in to fill the gap.