Inside the race to lead the African Development Bank

On May 29 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the African Development Bank will pick its next president — and the timing couldn’t be more pivotal. With traditional aid budgets under pressure and demand for development finance rising, this election isn’t just about choosing a boss. It’s also a high-stakes decision about the bank’s future direction, focus, and priorities. Eighty-one member countries — including African nations and major shareholders such as the United States, France, and Saudi Arabia — will cast their votes. To win, a candidate must secure a “double majority”: over 50% of the total vote and over 50% from African countries. The results of the elections should be known by the end of the day. Whoever takes the helm of the more than 2,000-employee institution in September will have big shoes to fill. Under outgoing president Akinwumi Adesina, the institution grew considerably, with its capital more than tripling to $318 billion. The next leader inherits not just a bigger bank — but a tougher global moment as the continent seeks to reduce its dependence on aid. We profiled the five candidates: Samuel Maimbo, Amadou Hott, Swazi Tshabalala, Sidi Ould Tah, and Abbas Mahamat Tolli. Samuel Maimbo: The outsider who wants to fix the system from the inside Zambian economist Samuel Maimbo is betting that what AfDB needs right now isn’t a politician — it’s a fixer. “I’ll admit I’m an unconventional candidate,” he told Devex. What it needs, he argued, is someone who’s ready to roll up their sleeves and overhaul how the institution works from the inside out. “It needs somebody who is dedicated to actually staying in Abidjan, working through the plumbing of the institution ... the boring stuff of the budget ... the talent management stuff ... that when it works, you don't notice and you don't get praise.” (Sound familiar? Ajay Banga had a similar promise when he took over as president of the World Bank.) Maimbo has spent over two decades inside the World Bank, rising through the ranks to become vice president for budget, performance review, and strategic planning. He served as chief of staff to presidents Banga and David Malpass, and in 2021, he oversaw the $93 billion International Development Association replenishment — a record figure delivered a year ahead of schedule. He’s backed by two regional economic communities, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, or COMESA, and the Southern African Development Community, or SADC. But it’s not clear the extent to which member states will vote in line with their group’s endorsement — SADC member South Africa, for example, is backing its own candidate. Maimbo’s platform is focused on speed, execution, and making finance work for Africa. “Nobody wants to wait 18 months for a decision. So halving the time of decision-making across the institution is a primary goal.” He is especially critical of the global debt architecture. “We have the [Group of 20 major economies] common framework. But solving three countries over a three-year period is just plainly too slow. The common framework has been very uncommon,” he said. His broader vision is to shift the continent away from aid dependence. “If you're running on aid and debts, and your debt is not being resolved, and your aid is disappearing, there is no other way but down for the continent,” he warned. The solution, he said, is clear: “We have to exit that. And the most effective way of doing it is doubling down on revenue generation.” That includes tapping into local sources — from $250 billion in pension funds to the over 300 African firms generating over $1 billion in annual revenue. Maimbo’s worldview was shaped by growing up during Zambia’s structural adjustment era — a series of International Monetary Fund and World Bank-led economic reforms that began in the mid-1980s and lasted through the 1990s with a complex legacy — which gave him a “very healthy dose of skepticism of global finance,” he said. “I arrived at the World Bank really curious as to what it was that was making the World Bank tick and not tick, and why was it failing Africa. … I have always been happy questioning the status quo.” His plans include establishing a private sector council and a youth council to keep AfDB grounded in real-world perspectives. Amadou Hott: The establishment pick focused on speed, scale, and self-reliance Amadou Hott’s résumé reads like a checklist for the role of AfDB president. A former Senegalese government minister, AfDB vice president, and sovereign wealth fund CEO, the economist brings the kind of experience that many expect in a frontrunner. Hott has held leadership roles across national and multilateral institutions. As Senegal’s minister of economy, planning and international cooperation from 2019 to 2022, he attracted development finance, including by restructuring the country’s public-private partnership framework in what he described to Devex as a six-month turnaround. Before that, he served as the AfDB’s first vice president for power, energy, climate, and green growth, where he said the bank more than doubled private sector energy investments. He also founded Senegal’s sovereign wealth fund, FONSIS, which he led from its establishment in 2013. His campaign focuses on making the bank more streamlined, efficient, and better positioned to support the private sector. He said he would create a new vice presidency dedicated to private sector operations in order to bring scattered functions under one roof to improve scale, concentrate technical expertise, and better leverage existing staff. Hott also said that improving Africa’s tax systems is critical to closing the financing gap. He pointed out that the average tax-to-gross domestic product ratio in African countries is around 15% — significantly lower than peers, where the average is closer to 23%–25%. “If we were to move … from 15% to 20% on average, we’ll immediately generate $200 billion during a year,” he told Devex. He sees a role for the bank in supporting countries to reach that target. Private wealth is another area he believes that AfDB should tap into more directly. Hott estimated that high net worth individuals in Africa hold about $2.5 trillion in assets — capital that often remains disconnected from development efforts. “I want the bank to crack that as well,” he said, proposing new investment vehicles and capital market tools to draw those resources into development financing. Beyond mobilizing funding, Hott positioned AfDB as a connector — a trusted institution that can help governments and investors navigate complex deals and needed reforms. He’s called for the bank to strengthen its role as a facilitator of bankable projects at scale and to act as an “honest broker” between public and private capital. Regional integration is also central to his vision. Referring to the African Continental Free Trade Area, he emphasized the need to think beyond national boundaries. “If we are seen as 54 countries … we may not achieve the scale. It’s very important to be seen as one market.” Swazi Tshabalala: The institutional candidate focused on infrastructure Bajabulile “Swazi” Tshabalala has spent years near the power center of the African Development Bank — and now she’s making the case to lead it. A former chief finance officer and, until recently, senior vice president of AfDB, if elected, Tshabalala would be the first woman to serve as AfDB president. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has publicly backed her bid, calling it “a great opportunity to appoint someone who has been working in that role and who has a clear vision for the Bank’s future direction.” Her career began in finance, not development. “When I joined the bank, I joined the bank as the CFO in 2018,” she said. “It was a very new environment, very different.” Born and raised in Soweto, South Africa, Tshabalala described herself to Devex as one of the “lucky few” able to attend a private school under apartheid, when opportunities for Black South Africans were sharply limited. “Giving back what has been given to me over the years is very, very important.” She entered AfDB with what she described as “a lot of trepidation,” coming from the private sector rather than a traditional development background. But that perspective shaped one of her most significant contributions to the bank. “I introduced the concept in the bank of hybrid capital,” she said — a financing approach she had previously explored in the corporate world, she told Devex. Hybrid capital blends elements of debt and equity, and offers multilateral banks a way to raise long-term financing without relying solely on shareholder contributions. “I called it mezzanine capital at the time … we should try and get the same kind of long-term capital that we get from our shareholders, but get it from the private sector.” Under Tshabalala’s leadership, AfDB became the first multilateral development bank to issue such a vehicle at the beginning of 2024. Tshabalala has also argued for the bank to shift its focus from approvals to delivery: “In the case of the bank, I am very interested in making sure that we go from prioritizing approval to prioritizing implementation.” Infrastructure sits at the center of Tshabalala’s campaign — and in her view, it should sit at the center of the bank’s mission too. She argued that over time, AfDB has drifted from its founding purpose. “If you recall, when it was created by the old Organization of African Unity, [infrastructure] was the objective,” she said. “And I think over the years, for perhaps good reasons, there’s been a sort of diversion from that core mandate.” Her priority, she said, is “refocusing the bank on that mission and mandate.” Tshabalala has proposed expanding regional partnerships, particularly with smaller regional development finance institutions, to deliver infrastructure projects more efficiently and at a greater scale. Drawing on her private sector experience, she’s also emphasized the importance of financial innovation and long-term capital, paired with practical reforms and coordination. She wants her campaign to focus not just on what gets funded, but whether it gets built. Sidi Ould Tah: Gulf-connected and focused on unlocking African capital Sidi Ould Tah is running for African Development Bank president with a message that’s as much about coordination as it is about cash. The Mauritanian economist wants to see the bank play a far more assertive role in unlocking the continent’s own financial potential — capital that, he argued, is already there but largely untapped. Currently president of the Khartoum-based Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, or BADEA, Ould Tah pointed to his leadership record as proof he can deliver. “During my tenure … we increased total assets by 75% to nearly USD 7 billion, while reducing the non-performing loan ratio from 11% to a historic low of 0.5%,” he wrote to Devex. “That’s not just growth—it’s growth with integrity. Because ambition and responsibility must go hand in hand.” A former Minister of economic affairs and development in Mauritania, he now leads a bank backed by the Arab League, which includes AfDB shareholders such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Several African countries also hold stakes in BADEA, including Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and Somalia. His campaign emphasizes that the continent’s financing challenge isn’t just about filling a gap — it’s about activating resources already within reach. “Africa needs capital, and Africa has capital,” he said at a recent event hosted by the Brookings Institution. “If we look at pension funding in Africa, we have more than $2 trillion sitting there.” He argued that AfDB should take the lead in pulling together that capital and directing it toward transformation. That means rethinking how institutions work together. Ould Tah wants AfDB to drive better coordination among Africa’s financial players — from AfDB itself to national development banks, the Africa Finance Corporation, and others. “AfDB should be the catalyst of all financial resources in the continent,” he said, “and should lead the way for the development of the continent and its structural transformation.” He has also pointed to the slow pace of private sector mobilization across development finance institutions. Despite years of pledges, private lending still makes up less than 25% of activity in many institutions, he said. To shift that, he’s pledged to convene a high-level forum in his first 100 days focused on retooling financial instruments and de-risking investments. He’s also committed to consultations with youth and women early in his term, and to dedicating one week early on to working with African think tanks and statistics agencies to address data gaps. “We need to make every dollar work like 10,” he said. Abbas Mahamat Tolli: Central Africa’s pick focused on infrastructure and food Abbas Mahamat Tolli is making his case for AfDB president with strong backing from Central Africa’s political and financial blocs — and a campaign centered on food security, infrastructure, and economic self-reliance. The former governor of the Bank of Central African States, or BEAC, and president of the Development Bank of Central African States, or BDEAC, Tolli brings both regional support and technocratic experience. At BEAC, he led a wide-ranging modernization effort — tightening foreign exchange regulations, merging regional stock exchanges, and introducing digital systems that kept payments flowing during the COVID-19 crisis. Tolli also served as Chad’s minister of finance and budget, and he’s placing those issues at the heart of his AfDB platform. “The annual infrastructure investment deficit is estimated at $150 billion,” he told Africa Report. “By addressing this, we could boost trade, leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreements, and promote industrialisation. This would help combat unemployment and prevent young Africans from attempting to reach Europe and perishing in the Mediterranean.” His other major priority, he said, is food. At the Brookings event, he said: “Food sovereignty is also essential. We need to work with the member states to make sure that food and agricultural independence becomes a reality.” With Africa importing tens of billions in food each year, Tolli argues that local investment — in agriculture, energy, and production — is the only way to break what he calls a “vicious cycle” of debt and dependence. His message is clear: the bank must move faster, work smarter, and do more. “We need to do it fast. We need to do more. We need to optimize our projects,” he said at Brookings. “And we need to create an environment more favorable for investments.” He described himself as pragmatic and determined, with a focus on delivering results. His platform also highlights local resource mobilization, stronger regional coordination, and a shift inside the bank toward impact over process.