The incoming president will face the immense challenge of navigating a complex landscape, one that demands innovative solutions and strategic leadership to unlock Africa's vast potential. Each candidate brings a unique blend of experience, vision, and priorities to the table, offering distinct pathways for the AfDB to bolster the continent's economic resilience and foster sustainable growth.
Here's a closer look at the contenders and their ambitious agendas:
A seasoned banker with three decades of experience, Swazi Tshabalala Bajabulile, until recently the AfDB's senior vice president, stands as the sole female candidate in the race. Hailing from South Africa, Tshabalala is resolute in her plan to overhaul the bank's internal structure to enhance its effectiveness, particularly in critical areas like infrastructure development.
"The internal structure of the institution... doesn't facilitate the right sort of sustained focus to be able to really deliver effectively on things like infrastructure," she stated, advocating for a consolidation of efforts. Tshabalala believes that well-executed infrastructure projects are the key to unlocking Africa's rich resources, from minerals to finance and trade. Her vision includes the creation of innovative financial instruments, building on the AfDB's recent explorations into hybrid capital, to mobilize the necessary investments.
Senegal's former economy minister, Amadou Hott, brings decades of banking expertise garnered from financial hubs spanning Lagos to London. His core focus for the AfDB revolves around fostering African financial self-reliance through robust resource mobilization and the meticulous design of projects that incentivize private capital to remain on the continent.
"Revenue mobilization is number one," Hott emphasized. He points to the stark contrast in tax-to-GDP ratios between Africa (averaging 16%) and OECD nations (34%) as a critical area for improvement. Boosting revenue collection, he argues, can lead to improved credit ratings, lower borrowing costs, and free up funds for pressing needs like power and infrastructure. Hott also highlighted the paradox of "money out there" that remains untapped due to a scarcity of well-structured, risk-mitigated projects that promise attractive returns for the private sector.
Currently a World Bank vice president on leave for his campaign, Zambian Samuel Munzele Maimbo boasts three decades of experience in development finance. His presidential agenda prioritizes behind-the-scenes foundational work: aggregating data, fine-tuning financial systems, and streamlining regulations to facilitate greater intra-African trade and financial flows among the continent's 54 nations.
"Now more than ever before, we've got to get trade working on the continent," Maimbo asserted. He points out that if only 15% of African products are traded within the continent, it signifies either spoilage or undervaluation. With the backing of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Maimbo advocates for a continent-wide approach to critical issues, from debt sustainability and revenue collection to infrastructure development.
Mauritania's former finance minister and presidential adviser, Sidi Ould Tah, has for the past decade helmed the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa. His central tenet for the AfDB is to liberate it from "legacy constraints" and firmly position it as the catalyst for Africa's economic sovereignty.
Tah's strategy is built on four pillars: broadening the scope of capital mobilization, reforming financial systems, harnessing Africa's demographic dividend by formalizing the informal sector (which employs 83% of Africans), and building climate-resilient infrastructure. He believes that strategic partnerships with the private sector, other multilateral institutions, and regional development banks can significantly amplify the AfDB's impact, potentially turning every dollar raised into ten dollars of productive capital.
Abbas Mahamat Tolli, who has held prominent financial positions across Central Africa, including Chad's finance minister, regional central bank governor, and president of the Development Bank of Central African States, champions self-sufficiency across sectors, from agriculture to finance. He is a strong advocate for strengthening governance to curb inefficient and untransparent spending that has often mired countries in debt without tangible development outcomes.
Tolli laments the significant financial outflows from Africa due to fiscal evasion or resource mismanagement, stressing the urgent need for "better management." To achieve his vision, he envisions a "major overhaul" of the AfDB's operational model, emphasizing risk pooling, strengthening public-private partnerships, and digitizing financing mechanisms. Tolli's personal journey, from tending goats as a child after fleeing civil war at age six, informs his unique perspective on how to uplift all those on the continent, mirroring Africa's own journey towards progress.
As the election day approaches, the development community watches with bated breath to see which of these visionary leaders will be entrusted with the monumental task of guiding the African Development Bank through its next crucial chapter, shaping the economic destiny of a continent brimming with potential.