President Muhammadu Buhari has passed a vote of confidence on the Nigerian- born President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Board of Governors and members of staff on their efficient administration that has culminated in the historic capital increase of the bank.
AfDB recently increased its capital base from $93 billion to $208 billion, placing the multilateral institution on a stronger pedestal to drive growth and development on the continent.
President Buhari, while congratulating Akinwunmi, said he joined shareholders of the Bank and African Heads of State and Governments in celebrating the feat, adding that it clearly demonstrated the quality of leadership at the helm of affairs, and the technical expertise that had been steadily pushing reforms for a smart and nimble institution focused on alleviating poverty.
The President in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, Sunday in Abuja, also felicitatesd with the leadership of the bank for numerous reforms undertaken to reposition the institution for current global realities and the peculiar needs of the African continent.
He commended what he described as the visionary policies that had started yielding results in providing electricity, financing and modernizing agriculture, encouraging industrialization, integrating Africa and improving the livelihoods of many.
“With the historic approval of $115 billion by the Board of Governors, which will buoy the Bank’s operations and reach, the President extols Dr Adesina for brilliantly and diligently taking the AfDB to new heights of achievements, and inspiring confidence that, indeed, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union Agenda 2063 are realisable,” the President said.
