Sidi Ould Tah elected president of African Development Bank, succeeds Akinwumi Adesina
Sidi Ould Tah
Abdullateef Fowewe
Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania has been elected as the ninth president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), succeeding Dr Akinwumi Adesina.
The election took place at the Bank’s Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, with Tah winning the vote by the Board of Governors, which includes Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from the Bank’s 81 member countries.
Tah, a seasoned economist and former Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Mauritania, brings over 35 years of experience in African and international finance. He previously served as president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), where he led a major transformation that quadrupled the bank’s balance sheet and secured a AAA rating.
He will officially assume office on September 1, 2025, taking over from Adesina, who led the AfDB for a decade, significantly increasing its capital from $93 billion to $325 billion and impacting over 565 million lives across Africa through development projects.
Tah inherits leadership at a critical time when the AfDB faces challenges such as climate crises, rising debt, and the need to mobilise substantial funding for Africa’s development.
His extensive background positions him to steer the continent’s premier financial institution toward continued growth and resilience.
