The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has endorsed the candidacy of the President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, for a second term.
ECOWAS President, Jean-Claude Kassi, announced this in a communiqué at the end of the 56th ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS held in Abuja.
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ECOWAS said the development was in recognition of the sterling performance of Adesina during his first term of office as AfDB President.
Adesina is the eighth elected president of the bank. He was elected to the five-year term on May 28, 2015, by the bank’s Board of Governors at its Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire where the same electoral process will play out in 2020.
Adesina is a renowned development economist and the first Nigerian to serve as president of the bank.
He has served in a number of high-profile positions internationally, including that of Rockefeller Foundation, as well as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011 to 2015.
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The commission commended Adesina for the bank’s involvement in the provision of technical and financial interventions to the West African region.
Adesina was recently named Forbes 2019 African of the Year.
