Adesina Set for Re-Election After Graft Probes

The head of Africa’s largest multilateral bank is poised to be re-elected for a second term, emboldened by the support of shareholders after being cleared of wrongdoing by two probes.

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina is set to be voted in for another five years as the sole candidate at a two-day meeting that begins on Wednesday. The 60-year-old Nigerian is seeking to unite member countries around a support program that’s already seen the AfDB source $100 billion to stabilize economies in a continent of 1.2 billion people hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic.

“African states have confidence in him and will be very conscious to express that confidence,” Kalu Ojah, professor of finance and the deputy head of Wits Business School in Johannesburg, said by phone. “He needs support.”

The annual gathering comes after an internal investigation and external review found no evidence to back claims by unidentified whistleblowers that Adesina helped friends and relatives secure jobs and contracts from the Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based lender.

The U.S. and several non-African members in May rejected the findings of an ethics committee probe in a move that drew criticism from several African states and leaders. Former Irish President Mary Robinson headed the outside panel that last month cleared the way for Adesina’s re-election.

Amid the rift, Nigeria increased its contributions to become the largest shareholder with a 16.8% stake, followed by Germany with 7.4% and the U.S. with 5.5%. Nigeria was already the top shareholder as of April 30, but only had a 8.5% stake, according to bank documents.

Capital Increase

Updates on a capital increase that the board of governors approved in October 2019, nearly doubling its base to $208 billion, will also be discussed during the meeting, the AfDB said in a statement. The lender’s representatives from the AfDB’s 54 African member-countries and 27 non-African shareholders will be meeting online for the talks.

In March, the lender issued a $3 billion social bond to help African countries deal with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The bank also launched a crisis-response facility of up to $10 billion for African sovereign and non-sovereign operations.

“The pandemic has hit the region’s economies hard in the wake of falling commodity prices and containment measures by governments that have led to country lockdowns,” the bank said. “For several months, the bank has been extending support to regional member countries in cushioning their economies, health systems, and citizens’ livelihoods from parallel health and economic impacts from Covid-19.”