African Development Bank to pick new head to confront US funding cuts

NAIROBI/ABIDJAN: The African Development Bank is meeting in Ivory Coast this week to pick a new president at a time when the continent’s biggest multilateral lender faces unprecedented challenges from funding cuts by the U.S. government.

Washington wants to cut $555 million in funding to the AfDB and its African Development Fund, which offers low-priced financing to the continent’s poor nations.

“This is going to be a major task and it is effectively the new president’s first test,” said Hannah Ryder, founder of Development Reimagined, an Africa-focused consultancy.

The annual gathering of heads of state and finance officials, taking place this year in Abidjan, is one of the biggest finance meetings on the continent.

It comes as heavily indebted governments in the region are searching for new sources of financing to bankroll their development projects.

AfDB, which is Africa’s largest development finance institution with $318 billion capital, is owned by 54 African states and G7 nations such as the U.S. and Japan. Its biggest shareholder is Nigeria.

The next round of replenishment for the ADF, which is held on a three-year cycle, is scheduled to take place in November. It is targeting to raise $25 billion, up from $8.9 billion in the last round.

The new president will have to try to persuade the U.S. to reinstate the funding, seek additional funds from non-regional members of the bank like China, or Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in return for more say, or ask African states to contribute more, Ryder said.

Five candidates - from South Africa, Senegal, Zambia, Chad and Mauritania - are vying to replace outgoing President Akinwumi Adesina, who will step down in September after serving the maximum two five-year terms.

AfDB will focus on boosting electricity connections, increasing food production, fostering industries, integrating economies on the continent and lifting people’s living standards over the next decade, Adesina told a media reception at the meeting on Monday.

The winner, who must secure at least 50.01% of the votes from the 54 African member states of the bank, and in a second vote from all 81 members, including non-African ones, will be announced on Thursday.

The bank is grappling with the challenges of a changing global economy after U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, including higher U.S. import tariffs.

“We expect the meeting to discuss implications of current global events arising from the Trump administration,” said Fred Muhumuza, a lecturer at Makerere University’s business school in Kampala. “Many of the key contributors have been cutting bilateral support to African countries.”