Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah Elected Ninth President of African Development Bank Group

Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah has been elected as the ninth president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), the Bank announced on Thursday.

Tah will take office on September 1, 2025, succeeding Dr. Akinwumi Adesina of Nigeria, whose 10-year term concludes this year.

He secured the position following several rounds of voting by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The Board includes finance ministers and central bank governors from the Bank’s 81 member countries.

Tah emerged victorious over four other candidates: Amadou Hott of Senegal, Samuel Maimbo of Zambia, Abbas Mahamat Tolli of Chad, and Tshabalala of South Africa.

Born in Mederdra, Mauritania, in 1964, Tah holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis in France. He has also completed executive programs at Harvard University and the London Business School.

His career includes serving as Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and as Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.