By Oke PeterSidi Ould Tah of Mauritania has been elected President of the African Development Bank Group at the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.Tah was elected by the bank’s board of governors, comprising finance and economy ministers or central bank governors of the bank group’s 81 regional and non-regional member countries. The board is the highest decision-making authority for the bank group.

The results were announced by Nialé Kaba, minister of planning and development for Côte d’Ivoire, and chairman of the board of governors of the bank group.

Sidi Ould Tah Sidi Ould Tah, African Development Bank new presidentAddressing the bank group's governors and the media shortly after the announcement, Tah said, "Let's go to work now, I'm ready!"

The winning candidate is required to obtain at least 50.01% of both the regional and non-regional votes.

Tah brings over 35 years of experience in African and international finance. He served as president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for 10 years from 2015.A former minister of economic affairs and finance of Mauritania, Tah has held senior roles in multilateral institutions and has led crisis response, financial reform, and innovative resource mobilisation for Africa.African Development Bank

The other candidates in the election were:

Amadou Hott (Senegal); Samuel Maimbo (Zambia); Mahamat Abbas Tolli (Chad) and Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala (South Africa).

Tah will assume office on 1 September 2025, for a five-year term, following the end of the second mandate of current president, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.