Akinwumi Adesina: The Man, His Sin, His Statistics -By Udeze Daniel Jr.

In less than two years as Nigeria’s minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Adesina attracted over $4bn of private sector investment commitment which ranges from those that were making warehouses to seed companies to fertilizer companies as well as juice manufacturing companies.
He once asserted that in Taraba state, north east Nigeria, the united states based and Kenya registered Dominion farms have set up a joint venture with the TY Danjuma group which includes a plan for $40mn in investment and Olam’s $72mn investment in Nassarawa state hoping to be one of Nigeria’s fully mechanized projects covering 6,000ha.

Adesina said that the actions of domestic investors are increasingly important, He asserted that “we have shifted people that have invested in oil and gas – even in the cement business- to diversify into agriculture, that’s a big thing”

The former minister for agriculture, alluded that Aliko Dangote is willing to invest $2.3bn into agriculture and specifically $300mn into commercial rice production and milling in Nigeria ; he further asserted that the continents wealthiest man is investing $30mn in tomato paste factory in Kano state, down north Nigeria.

As African governments continue to strive to contain the global health pandemic and in addition to a $13bn Covid -19 Social Bond floated on the floor of the London Stock Exchange to help Africa surmount the economic sickness and financial paralysis of the plague, the AfDB group has also decided to float another $10bn Facility Support for African countries.
In a re-assessment, Renaissance Capital revised down the growth forecast for Sub-Sahara Africa to 1.3 per cent from an initial 3.5 percent.

As the legal representative of the AfDB and the chairperson of the Board of Directors. Adesina conducts the current business of the bank under the statutory powers and direction of the board of directors.

The rules of the AFDB states clearly that election into the office of the president of the bank be held during the annual meeting closest to the end of the term of office of an incumbent president; Adesina who doubles as the current president assumed office on 1 September 2015, following his election in May 2015.
Accordingly, his term as president in office will elapse on August 31, 2020.

Since his election as president, the AfDB has maintained its AAA rating by leading global rating agencies in four straight rows which is largely perceived to be a reflection of the bank’s sound financial and risk management policies.

The loan income of the bank rose from $563m five years ago to $803m in 2017, a surge of nearly 43 percent laying credence to the excellent liquidity and strong shareholder support of the bank. The net operating income of the AfDB almost saw a double in 24 months as it increased from $492mn in 2015 to $781mn towards the end of 2017.

The bank under Adesina also boasts of the highest allocation from net income to the highest reserves ever in the history of the bank which was reached in 2017 for an amount of $190.35mn.

In 2018, when the AfDB launched the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa. The bank saw a globally recognition as the key determinant of investments into Africa by mobilizing $38.7bn of investment interests for Africa in less than 80 hours, making the forum to become a major frontier partner for galvanizing global investments in Africa in just a short duration.

The forum went further to see a $1.2bn addition of investment interests for businesses on the African continent. Through this platform, the bank, its shareholders and its partners mapped out a forensic policy to leverage on a $300bn of investments into Africa in the next 96 months.

As a global frontier in pursuing Africa’s development and investments. The AfDBs five strategic fronts have been considered globally as the key for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa and the agenda 2063 of the African Union.

In addition to AfDBs professional window, the Africa Development Fund was replenished in December of 2019 and saw a surge in donor contribution increasing by 35 percent allowing for more funding to support low-income countries and transition states on the continent.

The Bank has continued to strengthen human capital development having recruited over 680 staffs in 2018 alone, the highest ever in its recruitment trajectory since inception.

In October of 2019, the bank successfully completed a historic 125 percent, General Capital Increase, thereby increasing the Authorised Share Capital of the bank from $93bn to $208bn, the highest in the history of the bank since its inception in 1964.

The significance of the GCI approval means that the bank can now aid African countries to achieve critical development results in the next 96 months which would include 105 milllion people gaining access to electricity, 204 million people benefitting from improved access to agricultural technologies to achieve food security , 23 million people will also benefit from investee private sector firms while another 252million people will gain access to improved transportation services and another 128 million people benefiting from improved water and sanitation amongst others.

The AfDB’s reputation and standing among global financial institutions has never been stronger. The bank appears to many as a global financial institution that proffers huge possibilities for Africa and its development.

Since 2015 as president of the AfDB , Dr Adesina has set out a .number of strategic goals and spearheaded the growth of Africa with a ‘High 5 strategy’ including, Lighting up Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of lives for the African people.

His Leadership is moving Africa forward with seeds on many fronts. The Bank estimate indicates that in 2017, 4.4 million people were able to connect to electricity, another 8.5 million people received and benefited in agricultural infrastructure while some 14 million people were beneficiaries of infrastructural investments in the transportation sector.

Adesina had argued that the agricultural sector (agribusiness) in Africa would be worth $1trn by 2050.
He further estimated that agricultural related Foreign Direct Investments in Africa will rise from $10bn to $45bn in six years further asserting that the continent has one of the global competitive advantage to attract such.

The AfDB policies have seen the institution hailed globally for superb interventionist and corporate governance policies. Two years earlier, a Global Campaign for Aid and Development Transparency ranked the AfDB as the 4th most transparent institution among 45 most transparent institutions. With the bank recording an unprecedented first, when it was also ranked as number one by the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN), a position the AfDB jointly shared with the world bank.

While Adesina is largely recognized globally as having helped to lift the image of the institution with unprecedented global partnerships, he is also seen as a lover of media exposure, regularly winning awards at well-publicized media events home and abroad Yet, it is looking like there are some individuals who do not accept the way Adesina seemed to have almost geared and stirred his policies.

He has also been widely criticized as being a technocrat who knows some buzz words which he renders in British or American accent to diffuse his followers. His accusations have also included opposing shareholders whose claims largely settle on multiple cases of abuse and breach of the bank’s Code of Ethics by the President which were published in the French daily, Le Monde claiming amongst others a Nigerianization of the AfDB, an allegation which appears in itself unfounded astufftuffers from lack of clarity as countries like Senegal, Tanzania, Rwanda, Cameroon, and others have profited from key and essential projects totaling above $64bn in over seventy targeted areas.