By ESE WILLIAMS

Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania has been elected as the new President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Tah was elected on Thursday by the Bank?s Board of Directors at the bank?s annual meetings held in Abidjan, C?te d?Ivoire.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the board comprises Finance and Economy ministers, Governors of Central Banks across Africa and the 81 regional and non-regional members of the Bank.

The keenly contested election saw Amadou Hott of Senegal scoring 3.5 per cent of the total votes casts, Samuel Maimbo of Zambia 20.26 per cent and Tah 76.18 per cent

The new president will take over from Dr Akinwumi Adesina, a Nigerian economist, who led the AfDB for 10 years following his election in 2015.

Niale Kaba, the Minister of Planning and Development for Cote d?Ivoire and chairman of the board of Governors of AfDB, announced the results.

NAN reports that the president-elect is required to score about 50.1 per cent of regional and non-regional votes casts.

Tah has more than 35 years of experience both in African and international finance.

He was president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa for 19 years and transformed the bank?s balance sheet.

The president-elect also secured an AAA rating for the bank positioning it as one of the top on the continent.

He was also Mauritania?s former Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance.

As senior personnel of multilateral institution, he mobilised huge resources for Africa. (NAN)

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