Akinwunmi Adesina Endorsed For Second Term As President, AfDB

In recognition of his performance during the first term in office, President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina has been endorsed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for a second term.

The decision was announced in a communique signed by Jean-Claude Kassi, the commission’s president, at the end of the 56th ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, held in Abuja.

Adesina, who is the eighth elected President of the AfDB Group was elected to the first five-year term on May 28, 2015, by the bank’s Board of Governors at its Annual Meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where the same electoral process is expected to play out next year.

Adesina is a renowned development economist and the first Nigerian to serve as AfDB President.

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He has served in a number of high-profile positions internationally, including with the Rockefeller Foundation, and was Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011 to 2015.

ECOWAS President, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou commended the bank’s involvement in West Africa and said it had provided invaluable technical and financial interventions in the implementation of numerous projects and programmes.

The summit noted the role of the bank in the continent’s transformation and called for greater cooperation in order to fund projects in West Africa.

It urged the member states to continue economic reforms and ensure a sound macroeconomic environment with a view to accelerating the structural transformation of ECOWAS economies and facilitating the achievement of the monetary union by 2020.

The Authority commended efforts made on currency and monetary policy convergence in ECOWAS and laid out plans to advance the plan.

The communique read in part, “The Authority commends the Ministerial Committee for the progress made with the implementation of the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme.