Adesina sole candidate as AfDB holds virtual AGM Wednesday

The incumbent President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, will be running as the sole candidate for president of the AfDB, for a new five-year term at the bank’s next annual general meeting.

The AfDB said this in a statement on Monday entitled ‘African Development Bank 2020 annual meetings: Building Africa back better after the COVID-19 pandemic’ ahead of its AGM this week.

For the first time, the bank’s annual meetings would be held virtually to comply with the COVID-19 pandemic-related social distancing guidelines.

The governors’ dialogue and the election of a president would be top of the agenda, the statement said.

For several months, the bank had 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.

In April 2020, the bank established a COVID-19 response facility of up to $10bn to extend flexible support to African sovereign and non-sovereign operations.

As of August 20, $2.29bn in CRF funding had been approved for ADB member countries,

According to the statement, a further $1.186bn had been disbursed to African Development Fund member countries, with approvals ongoing.

The statement said in March, the bank also raised a record $3bn with a COVID-19 social bond floated on the London Stock Exchange.

The institution reached some major milestones during the trying times of lockdown with both Fitch and Standard & Poor credit rating agencies reaffirming the bank’s AAA rating with a stable outlook.