AfDB, Ecobank: A 100% Nigerian September 1st
1 September 2015
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This Tuesday, September 1st, African finance has green and white hues, the colors of Nigeria. Today, the continent's leading economy sees two of its sons take the helm of important African financial institutions: Akinwumi Adesina at the head of the African Development Bank and Ade Ayeyemi as CEO of the pan-African banking group Ecobank.
In the Ivorian economic capital, Akinwumi Adesina officially took over the reins of the African Development Bank in the late morning, one of the continent's leading project financing institutions, during a ceremony attended by the President of the Republic of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, outgoing AfDB President Donald Kaberuka and former Cape Verdean President Pedro Pires.
In the Congress Palace of the Hotel Ivoire, the new president of the continent's largest development institution also faced a large delegation of Nigerian political leaders and entrepreneurs, including billionaire entrepreneurs Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu, as well as former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. In his first presidential address, Akinwumi Adesina paid tribute to his compatriot, as well as to Senegalese Finance Minister Amadou Bâ, for campaigning for him during the election held last May.
The outgoing Nigerian Minister of Agriculture outlined some of his strategic priorities, citing the paramount importance he attaches to the energy issue while emphasizing the need to reduce inequalities between rural and urban areas, notably through a real agricultural revolution. The new AfDB president stressed the need to radically modernize the agricultural sector to feed the cities and increase the incomes of the poorest, the farmers.
Predecessors
In Lomé, another Nigerian, Ade Ayeyemi, also officially took office on September 1st as CEO of Ecobank International Incorporated, the largest and most iconic of pan-African banks, with a presence in 36 African countries. Coming from Citibank, he succeeds Ghanaian Albert Essien, who is retiring after serving as interim head of Ecobank following the departure of Thierry Tanoh at the beginning of 2014.
While Akinwumi Adesina is the first Nigerian elected to head the AfDB, Ade Ayeyemi is taking up a position that has long been held by his compatriot Arnold Ekpe, considered the true architect of the pan-African group.
Missions
In any case, both arrive at a pivotal moment for the institutions they lead.
Beyond internal issues (decentralization policy and high costs in particular), Akinwumi Adesina will have to make the AfDB even more effective so that it can, in his own words spoken on September 1st, be "more than a lending institution" to become one that changes lives and generates inclusive growth.
Ade Ayeyemi, for his part, will have the mission of enabling Ecobank to finally make its African footprint profitable.
University
Outside of Nigeria, it is also Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife-Ife, in Yorubaland, southwestern Nigeria, that is being honored today: Ade Ayeyemi (accounting degree) and Akinwumi Adesina (degree in agro-economics) both studied there.
This is also the case for Benedict Oramah (PhD in agricultural economics), another Nigerian who will officially begin his term as president of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Cairo on September 20 and 21, one of the leaders in financing intra and extra-African trade...
www.jeuneafrique.com
In the Ivorian economic capital, Akinwumi Adesina officially took over the reins of the African Development Bank in the late morning, one of the continent's leading project financing institutions, during a ceremony attended by the President of the Republic of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, outgoing AfDB President Donald Kaberuka and former Cape Verdean President Pedro Pires.
In the Congress Palace of the Hotel Ivoire, the new president of the continent's largest development institution also faced a large delegation of Nigerian political leaders and entrepreneurs, including billionaire entrepreneurs Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu, as well as former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. In his first presidential address, Akinwumi Adesina paid tribute to his compatriot, as well as to Senegalese Finance Minister Amadou Bâ, for campaigning for him during the election held last May.
The outgoing Nigerian Minister of Agriculture outlined some of his strategic priorities, citing the paramount importance he attaches to the energy issue while emphasizing the need to reduce inequalities between rural and urban areas, notably through a real agricultural revolution. The new AfDB president stressed the need to radically modernize the agricultural sector to feed the cities and increase the incomes of the poorest, the farmers.
Predecessors
In Lomé, another Nigerian, Ade Ayeyemi, also officially took office on September 1st as CEO of Ecobank International Incorporated, the largest and most iconic of pan-African banks, with a presence in 36 African countries. Coming from Citibank, he succeeds Ghanaian Albert Essien, who is retiring after serving as interim head of Ecobank following the departure of Thierry Tanoh at the beginning of 2014.
While Akinwumi Adesina is the first Nigerian elected to head the AfDB, Ade Ayeyemi is taking up a position that has long been held by his compatriot Arnold Ekpe, considered the true architect of the pan-African group.
Missions
In any case, both arrive at a pivotal moment for the institutions they lead.
Beyond internal issues (decentralization policy and high costs in particular), Akinwumi Adesina will have to make the AfDB even more effective so that it can, in his own words spoken on September 1st, be "more than a lending institution" to become one that changes lives and generates inclusive growth.
Ade Ayeyemi, for his part, will have the mission of enabling Ecobank to finally make its African footprint profitable.
University
Outside of Nigeria, it is also Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife-Ife, in Yorubaland, southwestern Nigeria, that is being honored today: Ade Ayeyemi (accounting degree) and Akinwumi Adesina (degree in agro-economics) both studied there.
This is also the case for Benedict Oramah (PhD in agricultural economics), another Nigerian who will officially begin his term as president of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Cairo on September 20 and 21, one of the leaders in financing intra and extra-African trade...
www.jeuneafrique.com
