LONDON — The African Development Bank has offered to “compromise” with the U.S. as a dispute over corruption allegations against the bank’s president, Akinwumi Adesina, ignites old power tensions, observers say.
Adesina denies the allegations against him and was exonerated by an internal review conducted by AfDB’s ethics committee in early May. But the U.S., which is the bank’s second-largest shareholder, has questioned the probe and pushed for a fresh, independent investigation.
In a release published Thursday, Niale Kaba, chair of the bank's governors, said the board stood by the decision of the ethics committee and did not agree to a new investigation.