*President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria sends a congratulatory message to President El Ghazouani of Mauritania
Abubakar Hashim
The new African Development Bank AfDB President, Sidi Ould Tah, emerged winner at yesterday’s keenly contested elections at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, for 3 strategically compelling reasons:
- His Mauritanian President, Mohammed Ould Ghazouami, who is the current chairman of the African Union AU, solidly backed his candidacy on the weight of the AU. Meaning, Sidi Tah got the overwhelming, support of the AU at yesterday’s Abidjan elections
- Sidi Tah, also got added support from Saudi Arabia and the UAE Gulf States. These countries are strategic allies of the US. Tah is the immediate past DG, BADEA, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa. BADEA is supported and bankrolled by 18 members in the Arab League. Sidi Tah did extremely well in raising BADEA’s profile and profitability portfolio. He dropped non performing loans from 10% to below 0.5%. Today, BADEA supports many projects in all African countries and it is rated as one of the best development financial institutions in the world, with a triple credit rating, AAA.
- Sidi Tah, 61, born in the same year AfDB was formed in 1964, multilingual, speaks Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, fluently, emerged 2nd in the 1st round votes yesterday, trailing behind , trailing behind the Zambian, Samuel Maimbo, who was leading in the first round with 33% votes (50% outright vote is needed to win in the first round of any AfDB elections). Tah eventually emerged winner in the 3rd round, after other contestants like South Africa’s Tshabalala and Senegal’s Hott, stepped down for him. These massive supports bolstered Tah’s numerical strength to finally emerged victorious with 76.18%.
His predecessor, Adesina, won with over 50% in the sixth round in 2015, indicating the AfDB elections have always been highly competitive.
President Tinubu Congratulates The Mauritanian President On The Election Of Sidi Ould Tah As AfDB President
President Bola Tinubu has congratulated President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani of Mauritania on the election of Dr Sidi Ould Tah as the ninth President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group.
Tah was the former Mauritanian Finance Minister and Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
In a telephone conversation from Lagos with the Mauritanian leader on Thursday afternoon, after Tah’s election at the AfDB’s Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, President Tinubu commended the transparent process that led to the emergence of the former Mauritanian Finance Minister.
Tah will succeed Dr Akinwumi Adesina of Nigeria, who will step down in September after completing two five-year terms.
President Tinubu believed that Dr Tah would bring a wealth of experience to the role, given his track record in former positions.
President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s strong partnership with the AfDB, emphasising its status as the institution’s largest shareholder among its member countries, comprising 54 African nations and 27 non-African states.
The President restated his commitment to working closely with the incoming AfDB president to advance shared priorities, including infrastructure development, agricultural transformation, energy access, and climate resilience.
Nigeria recently approved a $500 million capital replenishment for the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) in May 2025, extending the fund’s operations by another 15 years.
Established in 1976, the NTF is a special AfDB fund fully financed by Nigeria to support development projects across Africa.
This renewed commitment underscores Nigeria’s continued dedication to the Bank’s mission of driving inclusive growth and poverty reduction on the continent.
President Tinubu pledged Nigeria’s full support for Mr. Tah in implementing his vision for the institution, including strengthening regional financial institutions, promoting Africa’s economic independence, leveraging population growth for development, and building climate-resilient infrastructure.
President Tinubu thanked the outgoing President, Dr Adesina, and wished him success in his future endeavours