Today, as the African Development Bank ushers in a new president, the moment is both historic and symbolic. The ceremony comes as the Bank marks its 60th anniversary commemorated on the 31st of August 2025, offering an opportunity to reflect on its journey since 1964 and to imagine the road ahead. What began as a modest institution, with just ten staff working out of Addis Ababa, has become the continent’s foremost development finance body, an anchor of resilience, growth, and increasingly, sustainability.
The AfDB was born of a bold vision in Khartoum, Sudan, where 25 African nations came together to create an institution capable of mobilizing capital for Africa’s development. Its early projects, like financing roads in Kenya and investing in Sierra Leone’s development bank, may seem small in scale today, but they carried the weight of a continent striving to take ownership of its destiny. Over the decades, the Bank expanded its reach, weathering global oil shocks, debt crises, financial meltdowns, and political upheavals, always recalibrating to serve Africa’s needs.
Leadership has been central to this evolution. From Sudan’s Mamoun Beheiry, the Bank’s first president, to Morocco’s Omar Kabbaj who prioritized agriculture and women’s empowerment, to Rwanda’s Donald Kaberuka who steered the institution through the 2008 global financial crisis, each leader left a distinct imprint. Most recently, Nigeria’s Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who took office in 2015, transformed the Bank’s identity through his visionary High 5 agenda: to light up and power Africa, feed Africa, industrialize Africa, integrate Africa, and improve the quality of life for its people. The United Nations Development Programme would later affirm that delivering on these five priorities could achieve nearly 90 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.
Adesina’s tenure has been defined by ambition and results. Under his leadership, the Bank mobilised the largest capital increase in its history, raising its capital base from $93 billion to $208 billion in 2019. It launched the Africa Investment Forum, which has since attracted more than $180 billion in investment interest. It unveiled the Desert to Power initiative, a $20 billion plan to transform the Sahel into the world’s largest solar energy zone, capable of generating ten gigawatts of clean power for 250 million people. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the AfDB moved swiftly, issuing a $3 billion social bond, the largest of its kind worldwide—and creating a $10 billion crisis response facility. Lending grew steadily, reaching nearly $9 billion by 2022, while the Bank consolidated its reputation as the most transparent development finance institution globally.
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Sustainability has increasingly shaped this story; From the beginning, the Bank funded clean water systems, healthcare, and transport infrastructure, but in recent years it has tied these investments more explicitly to climate and green growth. In 2024, it issued its first-ever $750 million sustainable hybrid capital note, pioneering a new financing instrument in global development. That same year, it launched a ten-year strategy focused on inclusive growth and the transition to green economies, reaffirming its role as a partner in Africa’s fight against climate change.
The outgoing president leaves behind a legacy of bold reforms and optimism, earning recognition such as Global Finance’s designation of the AfDB as the best multilateral development bank in the world. But the challenges facing the new leadership are immense. Six hundred million Africans still lack electricity. Food insecurity affects nearly a third of the population. Climate change threatens to displace millions and erode decades of progress. The continent’s estimated $2.8 trillion climate finance gap by 2030 underscores the scale of the task.
Within these challenges lies opportunity; Africa possesses sixty percent of the world’s best solar resources but accounts for just one percent of global solar PV capacity. Its young population, projected to double by 2050, is poised to drive innovation and green job creation if supported by sustainable industries. The African Continental Free Trade Area offers new possibilities for integration, competitiveness, and resilience.
The swearing-in of the AfDB’s new president is more than a change of leadership; it is a moment of renewal. It signals the continuation of a journey that began six decades ago with the dream of building African solutions for African challenges. As the Bank looks ahead to its next chapter, it must deepen its role as both financier and thought leader in sustainability. The next decade will test whether Africa can harness its resources, talent, and partnerships not just to catch up with the world’s development goals, but to lead in shaping a more inclusive and climate-resilient future.
At 60, the African Development Bank is more than a financial institution. It is a custodian of Africa’s vision for itself, a vision rooted in resilience, self-reliance, and sustainable growth. Its past is a story of persistence; its future, if guided wisely, could be a model of green transformation for the entire world.
