{"id":19031,"date":"2025-09-02T17:29:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T14:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=19031"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:31:59","slug":"sidi-ould-tah-sworn-in-as-9th-african-development-bank-president-pledges-reform-and-focus-on-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2025\/09\/02\/sidi-ould-tah-sworn-in-as-9th-african-development-bank-president-pledges-reform-and-focus-on-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Sidi Ould Tah sworn in as 9th African Development Bank President, pledges reform and focus on sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania was sworn in on Monday as the Bank\u2019s ninth president of the African development bank group, marking a historic transition at one of Africa\u2019s most influential financial institutions.<\/p>\n

Ould Tah, 60, succeeds Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, who completed two terms at the helm. He was elected in May with over 76 percent of shareholder votes, the widest margin ever for a first-term president. The inauguration ceremony, held in Abidjan and attended by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, brought together past AfDB presidents, board members, and international partners.<\/p>\n

In his inaugural speech, Ould Tah set out \u201cFour Cardinal Points\u201d for his first 100 days: attentive listening, a fast-tracked reform agenda, deepening partnerships, and accelerating real solutions. He pledged to make the Bank \u201cattentive, responsive, and capable of setting priorities that matter,\u201d stressing the need for greater collaboration with governments, the private sector, and development partners.<\/p>\n

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The new president underscored the Bank\u2019s role in tackling Africa\u2019s urgent challenges, including climate change, demographic shifts, and technological transformation. \u201cAfrica must look North, South, East and West, not to imitate, but to draw wisdom and strength from every direction while defining its own course,\u201d he said. \u201cLike a navigator guided by the compass, the Bank should help Africa navigate the megatrends toward increased self-reliance, ambition, and agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Significantly, Ould Tah committed to revisiting AfDB\u2019s investment models to include a pillar dedicated to peace, acknowledging that economic progress is inseparable from stability. He also emphasized expanding partnerships to new players such as sovereign wealth and pension funds, alongside existing alliances like the International Development Finance Club and the Arab Coordination Group.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0AGRA launches 2025 Africa Food Systems Report at Dakar forum<\/a><\/p>\n

Ould Tah brings over 40 years of experience in development finance and policy. As president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), he oversaw an institutional transformation that grew assets from $4 billion to $7 billion and secured top-tier credit ratings. He also served as Mauritania\u2019s Minister of Economy and Finance from 2008 to 2015, and as a governor on the boards of the AfDB, World Bank, and Islamic Development Bank.<\/p>\n

With $318 billion in capital and $102 billion in approved development financing over the past decade, the AfDB remains central to Africa\u2019s growth trajectory. Ould Tah inherits an institution with strong fundamentals, including AAA credit ratings sustained for ten consecutive years.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0AfDB at 60: Celebrating a legacy of growth as new president takes office<\/a><\/p>\n

In his closing remarks, he highlighted the Bank\u2019s responsibility to drive inclusive development while staying focused: \u201cThe African Development Bank should not aim to be everything to everyone. It should focus on where it can move the needle most\u2014always with the spirit of partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a continent confronting climate risks, rising inequality, and shifting global economic currents, Ould Tah\u2019s presidency begins at a moment of both uncertainty and possibility.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania was sworn in on Monday as the Bank\u2019s ninth president of the African development bank group, marking a historic transition at one of Africa\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,104,97,113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-news-analysis","category-policy-governance","category-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}