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Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo
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Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo yesterday left Abuja for Abidjan, the Cote D’Ivoire capital, to
represent President Muhammadu Buhari at the swearing-in ceremony of former
minister of agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, as president of the African
Development Bank (AfDB). According to a statement by the senior special assistant to
the vice president on media, Mr. Laolu Akande, the inauguration is billed to
take place today.
He
recalled that President Buhari had actively supported the candidature of the
AfDB president-elect “in a keenly contested election conducted in May this year
even before the Buhari presidency assumed office. The vice president will speak
at the event and return to Abuja later tomorrow (today).”
Adesina
emerged AfDB president at the end of the election conducted by the Board of the
bank during the annual meeting of the AfDB Group in Abidjan, on May 28, 2015.
Leadership report continues:
He
defeated seven other candidates, including Sufian Ahmed, Jaloul Ayed, Kordjé
Bedoumra, Cristina Duarte, Samura M. W. Kamara, Thomas Sakala, and Birama
Sidibé.
Adesina’s
ambition to head the body was firmly supported by the outgoing administration
of President Goodluck Jonathan and the incoming president, Muhammadu Buhari.
Adesina
will conduct the business of the bank, under the direction of the Board of
Directors, for a five-year term, renewable once.
He
replaces Donald Kaberuka, a national of Rwanda who commenced his first term on
September 1, 2005 and was re-elected for his last five-year term which kicked
off on September 1, 2010.
Adesina
is a distinguished agricultural development expert with 24 years of experience
in developing and managing successful agricultural programmes across Africa.
He
graduated with Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics with First Class
Honours from the University of Ife, Nigeria (1981), where he was the first
student to be awarded this distinction by the University.
He
obtained his PhD degree in Agricultural Economics in 1988 from Purdue
University, USA, where he won the Outstanding PhD Thesis for his research work.
Until
his appointment as Nigeria’s minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in
2011, he was the Vice President, Policy and Partnerships, Alliance for Green
Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Dr.
Adesina has held senior leadership positions in some of the foremost
agricultural institutions in the world.
He
was principal economist and social science coordinator for the International
Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan (1995-1998); Principal Economist and
Coordinator of the West Africa Rice Economics Task Force at the West Africa
Rice Development Association (1990-1995); and Assistant Principal Economist at
the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. He was
Associate Director, Food Security at the Rockefeller Foundation where he was in
senior leadership positions from 1998-2008; Regional Office Director and
Representative for Southern Africa.
He
has published extensively and served on editorial boards of several leading
journals.
His passion is to use
agriculture to end hunger, create wealth and jobs and drive equitable economic
growth in Africa to lift millions out of poverty.
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