Mauritanian Sidi Ould Tah, elected president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) last May, officially took up his duties during a ceremony held on Monday in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), where the financial institution is headquartered.
“I solemnly commit to working (…) in a spirit of consultation and collegiality in order to pursue the mission that unites us: building a strong and prosperous Africa,” declared the new AfDB president after taking the oath of office, while highlighting the various challenges facing the continent, including the decline in international development aid, the burden of debt, and the negative impact of climate change.
“Africa is watching us, the youth are waiting for us, the time is now for action,” he said, stressing the importance of peace in achieving the expected development goals.
A former Mauritanian Minister of Economy (2008–2015), Sidi Ould Tah (60), who succeeds Nigerian Akinwumi Adesina, thus becomes the first Mauritanian to hold the presidency of the AfDB. For the past 10 years, he has been at the head of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
Founded in 1964, the AfDB, which has 81 member countries, including 54 African nations, is among the major multilateral development banks.
