World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala hail Adesina’s leadership at AFDB

The World Bank and the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have paid glowing tribute to the African Development Bank President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, as his decade-long tenure at the helm of Africa’s premier development finance institution comes to an end.

The tributes were shared in separate statements made available to The PUNCH on Thursday.

Adesina, who served two terms as AfDB president, would see his time in office expire at the end of August. The AfDB’s Board of Governors have already elected Mauritanian Sidi Ould Tah as his successor. He will assume office on September 1, 2025.

According to the World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, the outgoing AfDB president should be commended for his “transformative leadership.”

In a video tribute relayed on the final day of the Bank Group’s Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Banga praised Adesina’s unwavering dedication to Africa’s development over the past 10 years.

“Akin, I know this marks your final Annual Meeting as president of the African Development Bank—and what a tenure you have had! You brought vision, energy, and relentless determination to the job, and it’s been an absolute privilege to learn from you and work alongside you,” he said.

Banga also highlighted the prospects of a new partnership between the two multilateral development banks, driven by impact and alignment on strategic priorities.

One such example is the Mission 300 initiative, a joint effort to connect 300 million people to electricity across Africa, “It’s a shared ambition to bring energy to 300 million people in Africa, a demonstration of what’s possible when the MDBs work like a system—we each play to our strengths, but we’re very aligned on the outcome.

“I think we’ve made real progress in a short time, but the eyes of the world are upon us. What we need to show is real progress, real results, real opportunities for the private sector. That’s how we create jobs; that’s how we’ll improve the quality of life across the continent,” Banga affirmed.

The WTO DG in her own comments said, “He’s leaving a strong legacy behind of which he, Nigerians and all Africans, should be proud.”

Okonjo-Iweala expressed confidence that with sustained commitment and strategic focus, these ambitious development targets remain achievable.

Recalling their shared time in the cabinet of former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the WTO DG highlighted Adesina’s transformative initiatives in agriculture, particularly his pioneering of the digital wallet system to support women farmers.

“I challenged him to reach an additional one to two million women farmers, promising performance-based budget support. He delivered, reaching two million more. That’s the kind of leader Akin is,” stated the WTO chief.

“Akin brought uncommon passion to his work and made a difference to the lives of farmers in the country,” she noted, emphasising how his leadership has “significantly raised the profile of the bank to a new height of recognition and respectability.”

She stressed the importance of Africans owning the development of the continent and called for continued efforts to transform international interest into concrete investment.

She expressed enthusiasm about the African Investment Forum, a multistakeholder platform launched by Adesina and eight other partners to advance projects to bankable stages, saying it complements the WTO’s initiatives in promoting African economic development and integration.

While thanking African leaders, governors, executive directors, senior management and staff for supporting Adesina throughout his tenure, Okonjo-Iweala also commended Adesina’s wife, Grace, acknowledging her “steadfast support of her husband’s demanding role” over the past decade.