Outgoing Nigerian Agriculture Minister, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina has been elected as the new President of the African Development Bank.
Dr Adesina beat seven other contestants to emerge as the organisation’s eighth leader since its foundation in 1964. He is taking over from the current president, Donald Kaberuka of Rwanda on the 1st of September 2015
According to Dr Adesina after his victory,
I want to assure you that, as president of the bank, I will be a responsible president. I will be focused and I will work with you to build upon the tremendous work of President Kaberuka.
He also thanked his fans on Twitter…..
I'm honored & humbled by support I've received & the confidence placed in me. Our best days are ahead. #AfDBAM2015 https://t.co/QxNkLINsrr
— Akinwumi A. Adesina (@akin_adesina) May 28, 2015
55 year old Adesina is a development economist with a PhD from Purdue UniversityUSA. He became the Minister of Agriculture in and he is widely known for bringing innovation into Agriculture in Nigeria; with the introduction of an e-wallet system whereby mobile phones were distributed to farmers to eradicate the corruption in the distribution of subsidized fertilizers.
Forbes Magazine named him African of the year in 2013.
