Yemisi Izuora
Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania who has been elected President of the African Development Bank Group at the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, will assume office September 1, 2025.
Tah was elected by the Bank’s Board of Governors, comprising Finance and Economy Ministers or Central Bank Governors of the Bank Group’s 81 regional and non-regional member countries. The board is the highest decision-making authority for the Bank Group.
The results were announced by Nialé Kaba, Minister of Planning and Development for Côte d’Ivoire, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank Group.
Tah brings over 35 years of experience in African and international finance.
He served as president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for 10 years from 2015, where he led a full transformation that quadrupled the Bank’s balance sheet, secured a AAA rating, and positioned it among the top-rated development banks focused on Africa.
Addressing the Bank Group’s Governors and the media shortly after the announcement, Tah said, “Let’s go to work now, I’m ready!”
A former Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Mauritania, Tah has held senior roles in multilateral institutions and has led crisis response, financial reform, and innovative resource mobilization for Africa.
The Board of Governors Steering Committee received and approved a total of five candidates by the closing date of 31 January 2025. The list of candidates was officially announced on 21 February 2025.
He will need to reinforce the AfDB’s finances after US President Donald Trump proposed cutting $555 million in support and as other key funders divert aid toward domestic needs.