The Mauritanian economist, Sidi Ould El -Tah, was elected President of the African Development Bank, succeeding former Nigerian President Akinomi Addisina, thus becoming the ninth president of this continental financial institution, which faces serious challenges in light of the current global economic circumstance, and the United States is directed to withdraw its contribution from the bank’s capital.
Al -Tah was born in the position in the third round of the polling, which took place on Thursday at the bank’s headquarters in the city of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, ahead of 4 candidates: Senegalese Amadou Hot, South African candidate Swazi Chapalala, Al -Zambi Samuel Mimbo, and Tashaidi Mohamed Abbas Tuli.
He received 76.18%of the votes, ahead of the Zambian candidate, who won 20.26%, while Senegalese got 3.55%. South African and Chad’s candidates were excluded in the first round of the elections.
Ould El -Tah (60 years) began his campaign relatively late for the rest of the candidates, but, thanks to his experience in the regional banking sector and his proposals to develop the bank, managed to persuade the majority of the 81 shareholders, representing 54 African countries and 27 countries from outside the continent, including the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
The victory of the bank is required to obtain a double majority: from African countries and from the total members, as voting is calculated according to the contribution of each country to the bank’s capital, which highlights the importance of political and diplomatic alliances and economic interests in resolving the race.
The vote came after about a year and a half of public and confidential communication campaigns to gain the support of the joint -stock countries, in a long and complex process, as each candidate is a representative of his country, which harnesses its diplomatic capabilities and alliances to support it.
Ould El -Tah entered the race with an armed experience in the banking sector in the Arab world and Africa, and with the experiences he accumulated in managing the financial and economic affairs in his country, by taking over several ministerial positions during the era of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (2009-2019).
During his campaign, he presented himself as a link between the Arab world and the African continent, based on his experience during the past decade at the head of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, funded by the Arab League countries, which was based in Khartoum before the outbreak of the civil war in Sudan.
It is likely that Saudi Arabia, the main shareholder in the Arab Bank, has played a prominent role in supporting its candidacy, by mobilizing the voices of Arab countries, especially Egypt (6.33%) and Algeria (5.33%), in addition to the United States, the third largest shareholder in the African Bank by 6.09%.
France’s support (3.71%), Belgium, Spain, and a number of African countries were also benefiting from the escalating diplomatic weight of Mauritania in recent years, especially after President Mohamed Ould Sheikh Al -Ghazwani headed the African Union in 2024.
Great challenges
As he officially received his duties on September 1, Sidi Ould El -Tah will face major challenges, succeeding Akini Addisina, who has led the bank since 2015 and left behind a different developmental outcome, although the numbers indicate that the institution is in a good position.
The bank currently enjoys a credit classification (AAA), allowing it to reach the capital markets on easy terms, and its capital has witnessed the largest increase in its history, from 93 billion dollars in 2015 to 318 billion dollars currently.
One of the most prominent challenges expected is the possibility of the United States withdrawal from the bank’s capital, with a contribution estimated at $ 555 million, in light of the directions of the new US administration led by Donald Trump, which focuses on internal affairs, and expressed this with the closure of the American Agency for International Cooperation, which was supporting development and social projects in Africa.
Ould El -Tah has expressed awareness of this challenge, stressing on more than one occasion that the time for relying on the West to finance African development has gone, and that the African continent should search for alternative financing sources.
In terms of programs, he will find a ready strategic plan that covers the period from 2024 to 2033, which was approved at the annual meeting of the bank in Kenya last year, and focuses on 5 goals: food security, energy, integration, manufacturing, and improving the level of African life.
His vision of these challenges is anticipated, as it is based on 4 basic pillars: reforming the financial structure of Africa, converting the demographic factor into an economic power, supporting manufacturing and developing natural resources, and widespread mobilization of capital.
In this context, Serge Ekoy, head of the West Africa Development Bank, believes in a statement to John Africs, that a boy can bet on the Arab countries to enhance the bank’s finances, taking advantage of his knowledge and his proximity to those countries that have hundreds of billions allocated to investment.
Thus, Sidi Ould El -Tah becomes the fourth Arab figure to head the bank, after the Sudanese Mamoun Beheiri (1964-1970), the Tunisian Abdel Wahed Al -Ubaidi (1970-1976), and Moroccan Omar Al -Kabbaj (1995-2005).
On his upcoming performance, the banker Serge Ikoy asked, “Will Sidi Ould El -Tah succeed, from his position at the head of the African Development Bank, in repeating the success he achieved during the past decade at the head of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa?”