President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said the bank under his watch has transformed 515 million lives, including 231 million women, over the past decade.
Adesina disclosed this while delivering a farewell address to Heads of State and Government at the 38th African Union Summit in Ethiopia held recently.
He said 127 million people gained access to better services in terms of health, 61 million people gained access to clean water, 33 million people benefited from improved sanitation, 46 million people gained access to ICT services and 25 million people gained access to electricity.
Adesina cited the landmark Africa Energy Summit held in Tanzania in January where 48 nations signed the Dar es Salaam Declaration to adopt bold policies in support of an initiative by the World Bank and the African Development Bank to extend electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030.
Adesina, who is also the Chairman of the Group’s Boards of Directors, underscored the impact of the Bank’s High 5s Agenda—Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa—which has impacted more than half a billion lives across the continent.
“It has been an unprecedented partnership to advance the goal of the African Union towards achieving Agenda 2063: the Africa we want,” said Adesina who in February 2022, became the first president of the Bank Group to address the AU Summit.
During the final day of the assembly, several African governments and AU officials paid tribute to Adesina for his exceptional leadership of the bank and strong global advocacy for Africa.
As he ends his tenure as the bank group’s president on September 1, 2025, Adesina highlighted the decade of remarkable achievements by the bank in driving Africa’s economic transformation.
On food security, Adesina cited the bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), the Dakar 2 Food Summit that mobilised $72 billion in 2023, and the $1.5 billion Africa Emergency Food Production Facility that was launched in May 2022 to avert a major food and fertilizer crisis triggered by global conflicts.
“The African Development Bank accelerated food production in Africa. Over 101 million people became food secure. We mobilized $72 billion to implement the food and agriculture delivery compacts across the continent,” he stressed.
With the support of the bank, Ethiopia has achieved self-sufficiency in wheat production within four years and is now a wheat-exporting nation.
A Decade of Transformative Impact
With a strong focus on job creation, the bank has trained 1.7 million youth in digital skills and is rolling out Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks to drive youth-led economic growth. “Our goal is simple: create youth-based wealth across Africa,” Adesina reiterated.
Additionally, the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative has provided $2.5 billion in financing to over 24,000 women-owned businesses, said Adesina.
Over the past decade, the AfDB has invested over $55 billion in infrastructure, making it the largest multilateral financier of African infrastructure.
The bank has also prioritised healthcare, committing $3 billion in quality healthcare infrastructure and another $3 billion for pharmaceutical development, including establishing the Africa Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation.
Historic Financial Mobilisation for Africa
Under Adesina’s presidency, the bank achieved its largest-ever capital increase, growing from $93 billion in 2015 to $318 billion currently.
The most recent replenishment of the African Development Fund, the bank group’s concessional window, raised a record $8.9 billion for Africa’s 37 low-income countries, setting the stage for a target of $25 billion for its upcoming 17th replenishment.
