By Kolawole Ojebisi
The outgoing President of the African Development Bank, (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has revealed how the financial institution strengthened its financial architecture in Africa, with its capital rising from $93 billion in 2015 to $318 billion in 2025.
The economist maintained that the feat was achieved during a decade of leading the institution.
Adesina spoke at the bank’s annual meetings opening ceremony on Wednesday in Cotê D’ivoire, which marks his last meeting as the AfDB president.
In his speech, the economist gave an account of his stewardship, and recognised the contributions of several stakeholders to his success.
“Thanks to our African Development Fund donors, we raised $8.9 billion for ADF16, the largest ever in the history of the Fund since 1973,” he said.
“We innovated and developed a new financial framework that will allow the ADF to mobilize $27 billion from global capital markets.
“The shareholders of the Bank showed extraordinary support and confidence in our leadership and management of the Bank.
“When I was first elected President of the Bank in 2015 the capital of the Bank stood at $93 billion. From 2015 to 2025, we have grown the Bank’s capital from $93 billion to $318 billion.”
Adesina said the bank put the expanded capital into “remarkable use with unprecedented financial support to all of our African countries”.
The AfDB boss said the bank has worked closely with the African Union to support the organisation.
“This includes the provision of $11.5 million in institutional support, over $17 million to the African Continental Free Trade Area, and over $27 million to the African Centre for Disease Control,” he said.
“The African Investment Forum, launched by the Bank and its partners in 2018 has since mobilized $225 billion in investment interests in Africa, across several projects.”
Adesina noted that the work of the AfDB “has impacted the lives of 565 million people” in the past decade.
