Economist and former Mauritanian Minister Sidy Mohamed Taaheb was elected today, Thursday, in the Ivorian capital Abidjan, during the annual meetings of the African Development Bank, as the president of this financial institution, according to a statement published on its website.
Taaheb, who previously held the position of President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for a decade, was elected by the Bank’s Board of Governors, which includes finance ministers, economic ministers, or central bank governors from member countries of the Bank Group.
The man, who has over three decades of experience, received more than 76 percent of the total votes, and over 72 percent of the African votes, after facing fierce competition from Zambia’s candidate Samuel Muntzeli Mayimbo, who also ran for the position, along with Senegal’s Madu Hote, Chad’s Mohammed Abbas Toli, and South Africa’s Pajabulile Swazi Chabala.
Taaheb, who previously served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance in Mauritania, along with senior positions in various institutions, will assume his new role at the beginning of September for a five-year term, following the end of the current president Akinwumi Adesina’s second term.
According to the African Development Bank’s statement, the election of a new president comes at a “critical time in the Bank Group’s six-decade history, as Africa remains resilient despite climate shocks, economic disruptions, and a changing geopolitical landscape, but it needs to move faster; otherwise, it risks falling short of achieving the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, which the Bank Group has summarized in five key strategies.”
It is noteworthy that the African Development Bank, previously headed by Moroccan Omar Kabbaj between 1995 and 2005, consists of three entities: the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund, and the Nigeria Trust Fund, with contributions from over 50 African countries and 27 countries outside the continent.
