The Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), which includes Ministers of Finance or their representatives from the 81 member states, has elected Mr. Sidi Ould Tah as the new President of the AfDB.
Dr. Tah, a former Finance Minister of Mauritania and the current President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), will serve a five-year term starting on September 1, 2025.
Mr. Tah succeeds Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who served as President for two terms beginning in September 2015.
During his leadership at BADEA, Mr. Tah has supported Liberia’s development initiatives, notably financing the renovation of the Roberts International Airport runway in 2016 and the Gbarnga-Salayea segment of the Gbarnga-Mendikorma highway project.
Additionally, Mr. Tah was one of the leaders of the Arab Coordination Group, which includes the Kuwaiti Fund, the Saudi Fund, BADEA, and others. This group committed to financing the Salayea-Voinjama section of the Gbarnga-Mendikorma Highway during their discussions in Washington, D.C., on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting held in late April 2025.
“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Tah on his election as President of the AfDB and look forward to enhanced mutually beneficial partnerships between the AfDB and Liberia during his tenure as President of Africa’s leading multilateral development bank”, said Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Ngufuan.
In a social media post regarding Mr. Tah’s election, Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Ngufuan, also congratulated the other four candidates for the AfDB presidency for their demonstrated commitment to the continent’s development.
Dr Ould Tah started his career as expert at the Mauritanian Bank for Development and Commerce (BMDC) (1984-1986), then as financial analyst at the Food Security Commission (1986). He held the position of Administration and Finance Manager of the Municipality of “Nouakchott” (1987). During the period 1988-1996, he was assigned the job of Advisor to the Director General and Director of Internal Auditing Department in “Nouakchott” Port Authority. He worked as Financial Analyst at the Khartoum-based Arab Authority for Agriculture, Investment and Development (AAAID) (1996-1999). During the period 1999-2006, Dr. Ould Tah served as Investment Promotion Officer then as Technical Assistant to the President of the Islamic Development Bank.
Dr. Ould Tah held the position of advisor to both the President and the Prime Minister respectively (2006-2008). In July 2008, he was nominated Minister of Economy and Finance. From 2008, he held the position.
Critical period of AfDB
The election of a new president comes at a crucial time in the Bank Group’s six decades of existence. Africa has remained resilient despite climate shocks, economic disruption, and a shifting geopolitical landscape, but needs to move faster or risk falling behind on delivering on the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, summed up in the Bank Group’s High 5’s.
The 2025 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group are taking place from May 26 to 30 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire under the theme “Making Africa’s Capital Work Better for Africa’s Development.”
The African Development Bank Group comprises three entities: the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund. Its shareholder countries include 54 African countries or regional member countries, and 27 non-African countries or non-regional member countries.
The African Development Bank’s past heads since its inception in 1964 are:
- Mamoun Beheiry (Sudan), 1964-1970
- Abdelwahab Labidi (Tunisia), 1970-1976
- Kwame Donkor Fordwor (Ghana), 1976-1980
- Willa Mung’Omba (Zambia), 1980-1985
- Babacar N’diaye (Senegal), 1985-1995
- Omar Kabbaj (Morocco), 1995-2005
- Donald Kaberuka (Rwanda), 2005-2015
- Dr. Akinwumi Adesina (Nigeria), 2015-2025.
