A major showdown is brewing in Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast, where five candidates will be hoping to earn an endorsement to lead the continent’s top development bank.
The presidency of the African Development Bank (AfDB), soon to be vacated by Nigerian Akinwumi Adesina, will be up for grabs when more than 6,000 delegates, including African heads of state and government, finance ministers, central bank governors, development partners, private sector representatives, civil society leaders and academics descend on the city to decide who becomes the next president of the 60-year-old development finance institution.
South African Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala is the only female alongside four men who have been campaigning to lead the institution. She is up against Samuel Maimbo of Zambia, endorsed by the Southern African Development Community (Sadc); Amadou Hott of Senegal; Tah Sidi Ould of Mauritania; and Tolli Abbas Mahamat of Chad.
Tshabalala, originally from Dube in Soweto, has worked extensively in the private and public sectors in South Africa. She recently told the Sowetan newspaper that should she be elected, her focus would be on uplifting Africa.
“I am nominated based on my strong attributes for a leadership position. Not many women make it to the very top, so I am one of the lucky few. And I think it is important that when you get there [the top], you try to lift as many people as possible,” she said.
I am nominated based on my strong attributes for a leadership position. Not many women make it to the very top, so I am one of the lucky few. And I think it is important that when you get there [the top], you try to lift as many people as possible.
At a meeting on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum, also held in Abidjan last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed Tshabalala as a “visionary” leader, saying that with major bodies such as the IMF, the European Bank and the World Trade Organisation led by women, there was no reason for the AfDB not to follow suit.
However, her candidacy has split Southern Africa, since the regional body Sadc has publicly endorsed the Zambian economist, Maimbo, for the job.
The president of the AfDB is elected by the a board of governors which comprises representatives of the 81 member states that are shareholders of the institution. They are usually represented by their ministers of finance, central bank governors or other designated alternatives.
Its top regional shareholders are Nigeria, with a stake of just more than 8%; Egypt, which has a 6% share: Algeria, with just under 6%; and South Africa, also under 6%. The US is the top non-regional shareholder in the bank with a 6.5% stake, followed by Japan with 5.4% and Germany with 4.1%.
Though the AfDB’s net asset value (NAV) is not a publicly released figure, the bank’s financial reports, including the 2022 and 2023 annual reports, focus on financial performance metrics such as income, expenses, net income and the size of its active portfolio rather than NAV.
The bank has shareholder capital of $318bn (about R5.7-trillion). Its banking portfolio, which includes loans, equity participation and guarantees, was valued at about $31.7bn at the end of 2022.
In October, Business Times reported that Sadc had clashed with South Africa over the position, which has not been held by someone from the southern region for more than 40 years
In a strongly worded statement, Sadc said a heads of state summit held in Zimbabwe on August 17 endorsed Maimbo as the region’s sole candidate for the position and urged all members of the regional bloc to support and campaign for him.
It said seven candidates were interviewed by Sadc finance and investment ministers and Maimbo was the favoured candidate, with Tshabalala second.
“Seven nominated candidates from Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia were interviewed and Dr Maimbo was ranked first, with Ms Tshabalala, a national of South Africa, second.”
Sadc said another summit held in Luanda, Angola, adopted a recommendation — supported by the regional bloc’s finance ministers — which directed the executive secretary of the body to develop selection and evaluation criteria for a candidate to be endorsed by the region.
It said this strategy was approved by Sadc finance ministers in November 2023 and that in March 2024 the executive secretary invited member states to nominate candidates for the AfDB presidency.
The bloc’s finance ministers interviewed seven nominated candidates and compiled a report which was presented to the heads of state summit in August. This report, Sadc said, recommended Maimbo for the role.
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana told Business Times in October that South Africa had never disputed that Tshabalala had come second in Sadc interviews for the AfDB role. However, he said the country was backing her because the rules for nomination of the president did not require a candidate to be endorsed by a regional bloc, but by a country.
“We never contested that Tshabalala did not come second. But she’s our candidate and the rules do not require that a candidate be endorsed by a regional bloc,” he said.
This week, Maimbo, who also has the support of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and is considered the front-runner for the post, told Business Times he had no problem convincing AfDB stakeholders why he was the most suitable to lead the bank.
Currently the vice-president for budget, performance review and strategic planning at the World Bank, he said that if he secured the job he would lean heavily on 30 years of result-driven engagements to set out “clear performance metrics” from day one.
“This is something currently lacking in the pan-African institution. The governments and people of Africa require bold, pragmatic, results-driven leadership at the AfDB. My plan for Africa depends on institutional excellence and financial innovation at the AfDB and strategic partnerships with regional and global institutions. I have developed practical, realistic methods for achieving this,” Maimbo said.
Additional reporting by Khulekani Magubane
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