“Today, I have been given a great responsibility, I feel humbled by this remarkable vote of confidence in me,” the AfDB President-Elect and Nigeria’s Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Akinwumi A. Adesina, said following the announcement of his victory over seven other candidates who vied for the position on May 28.
During the meetings, the Governors, usually Finance and Economy Ministers representing 54 regional and 26 non-regional member countries of the Bank Group adopted its 2014 annual report and 2015 work programme as well as a number of initiatives.
Organized on the theme, “Africa and the New Global Landscape,” the gathering included a series of high-level seminars and side events on the continent’s economic, social and political situations, and how the Bank can leverage resources to improve living condition on the continent.
In a communiqué at the end of the meetings, the Governors welcomed the Bank Group’s good financial results despite the challenging African and global environment.
They congratulated the Bank Group for successfully returning its operations to the statutory Headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire after 11 years at the Temporary Relocation Agency in Tunis, Tunisia; and thanked the Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisian Governments for the support they provided towards the successful implementation of the Roadmap for the Bank’s return to its headquarters.
“We applaud the Bank Group for its leadership on and quick response to the Ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic in parts of West Africa, in particular the rapid mobilization of emergency funding to support treatment and containment,” the communiqué said.
Presidents Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique, and Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon were among some 4,520 participants at the meetings. Others comprised representatives of multilateral finance institutions, development agencies, private-sector chief executives, non-governmental and civil society organizations as well as the media.
Outgoing President Donald Kaberuka who was the meetings’ “Chief Host-of-Honour”, received a standing ovation and tributes, congratulations and commendations from participants throughout the meetings.
His successor, Akinwumi Adesina, described Kaberuka as one of Africa’s outstanding leaders, promising to sustain his legacy by leveraging on his vision to achieve an economically integrated and prosperous continent.
For his part, President Kaberuka said he was “fully confident that under Adesina’s leadership, the Bank would move to the next level. And I know that you will extend the same support you gave me to the new President and his team.”
Côte d’Ivoire’s Prime Minister, Daniel Kablan Duncan, closed the meetings by saying that the Bank performed extremely well in its corporate and operational functions, citing the successful and seamless election of its new President as an example the Bank’s maturity.
The next Annual Meetings will take place in Zambia in May 2016.
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