Kenneth Afor
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation is currently leading as a top shareholder in African Development Bank (AfDB).
This was disclosed in a memorandum sent to governors of the bank, August 20, 2020.
This is coming at the nick of time when the continent’s lender is planning to elect its president, and Nigeria’s very own Akinwunmi Adesina is seeking for a re-election as a sole candidate.
Nigeria leads other donors of the bank by 16.8 percent of rights while Germany and the United States (U.S) own 7.4 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.
This however means that Nigeria has increased its voting power even as the bank prepares to hold its lender’s annual meetings scheduled this week virtually.
Also, this is an aggressive move by the country to keep her man, Adesina at the helm of affairs in AfDB for another five years.
Despite the fragile nature of the country’s economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic with sight of no recovery, the giant of Africa in its pledge is expected to pay up the bulk of its commitment to the bank by October 2021.
According to a wire report, highlights of the lender’s annual meetings would revolve on the election of the president and meetings of the lender’s board of governors.
It would have been a different story for Adesina if he was found guilty of the probe leveled against him by some hierarchy officials of the bank but the charismatic leader was found of no wrongdoing by the independent panel.
The continent’s lender in March issued a $3 billion social bond to African countries to help cushion the effects of the coronavirus. It also launched a $10 billion crisis-response facility for African nations.
The bank stands strong of 54 nations of the African continent as well and 27 countries in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia as shareholders
