The reign of Adesina as the President of the African Development Bank is winding down after spending two eventful tenures at the Bank. The Steering Committee of the Board of Governors on the Election of the President of the African Development Bank met on 11 and 12 February 2025 at the Bank Group’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to select possible successors to Adesina. The Steering Committee, after examining the candidatures cleared the following list of candidates for the office of the President of the African Development Bank during the next election to be held on 29 May 2025:
Amadou Hott
Amadou Hott
Amadou Hott (born 25 October 1972) is a Senegalese economist and investment banker, and served as Minister of Economy, Planning and International Cooperation of Senegal in the Fourth Sall government from April 2019 to September 2022.
At African Development Bank AfDB, he is the former Special Envoy of the President for the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa. He was formerly the Vice President of the AfDB’s Power, Energy, Green Growth and Climate Change Complex, a position he held from November 2016 until his Senegalese government appointment.
Hott started his career at Société Générale in New York before joining BNP Paribas in London as an investment banker. He then worked at the Dutch bank ABN AMRO where he focused on the African continent. His areas of intervention spanned from risk management to mergers and acquisitions and from advisory to fundraising and financing.
In 2006, Hott left Europe to settle in Dubai where he worked at the Millennium Finance Corporation as a Managing Director working in mergers and acquisitions and financing for the African continent. Two years later, Hott became Managing Director of UBA Capital, the Investment Banking arm of the UBA Group in Lagos.
In 2011, he became the wealth manager for Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote.
Amadou Hott holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg, a postgraduate degree in financial markets finance and banking management at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University and a master’s degree program in applied mathematics at New York University (NYU).
Samuel Munzele Maimbo
Samuel Munzele Maimbo
Samuel Munzele Maimbo is a Zambian national with nearly thirty years of experience in development, financial markets, resource mobilization and strategic planning. Mr. Maimbo’s World Bank career began in 2001 in the institution’s Young Professionals Program, serving in strategic roles with increasing responsibility.
He is currently the Vice President for Budget, Performance Review, and Strategic Planning as well a top advisor to the World Bank’s senior management team on resource management allocation.
In the past 23 years at the World Bank, Mr. Maimbo has held several positions which include Chief of Staff to World Bank Presidents and Director of the International Development Association (IDA) Resource Mobilization and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) Corporate Finance department. He was Senior Advisor in the Office of the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer and a Financial Sector Specialist in three regions, including South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe and Central Asia.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Maimbo held the position of Bank Inspector at the Bank of Zambia and Auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
Mr. Maimbo holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration (Banking) from the University of Manchester, an MBA in Finance from the University of Nottingham, a BSc. in Accounting from Copperbelt University, Zambia, and is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA, UK).
Dr. Sidi Ould Tah
Sidi Ould Tah
Dr Ould Tah, the Mauritania born Economist is the Director General, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). He started his career at the Mauritanian Bank for Development and Commerce (BMDC) where he worked from1984-1986. Since then, he has held the positions of financial analyst at the Food Security Commission, Administration and Finance Manager of the Municipality of “Nouakchott” and Advisor to the Director General and Director of Internal Auditing Department in “Nouakchott” Port Authority.
He worked as Financial Analyst at the Khartoum-based Arab Authority for Agriculture, Investment and Development (AAAID) from 1996 to 1999. During the period 1999-2006, Dr. Ould Tah served as Investment Promotion Officer then as Technical Assistant to the President of the Islamic Development Bank.
Dr. Ould Tah held the position of advisor to both the President and the Prime Minister respectively (2006-2008). In July 2008, he was nominated Minister of Economy and Finance. From 2008, he held the position of Minister of Economic Affairs and Development until his appointment as Director General of BADEA.
He holds a Ph. D. in Economics from Nice-Sophia-Antipolis University and a D.E.A (Master degree) in Economics, from Paris VII University. He has a post-graduate degree in Economics and a B.A degree in Economics from “Nouakchott” University.
Abbas Mahamat Tolli
Abbas Mahamat Tolli
Abbas Mahamat Tolli is a Chadian economist who served as the 5th Governor of the Bank of Central African States from February 2017 to February 2024.
Abbas Mahamat Tolli has played a significant roll in Chadian economy having held developmental key positions. He has served as Director-General of the Customs Department, Director at the Office of the President, Secretary of State for Finance, Minister of Finance and Budget of Chad, Secretary-General, BEAC, Minister of Infrastructure and Secretary-General, COBAC. He was President of BDEAC between 2015-16 and Governor of BEAC from 2017 to 24.
Tolli is a graduate of the National School of Administration (ENA) in Paris and the University of Quebec in Canada
Ms. Bajabulile “Swazi” Tshabalala
Ms. Swazi Tshabalala
Ms. Tshabalala, a citizen of South Africa, has been Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of the African Development Bank Group since joining the Bank Group in August 2018. She was appointed by President Adesina as Acting Senior Vice President in March 2020.
Over the past three years, Swazi has served in several key leadership roles at the Bank, including as co-Chair of the Steering Committee which worked bank-wide with the President for the successful 15th Replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF 15) and the African Development Bank’s historic 7th General Capital Increase.
In her capacity as Vice President for Finance, Swazi chaired the Asset and Liability Committee of the Bank. As Acting Senior Vice President, she worked closely with the President to oversee the Bank’s prudential ratios and financial management to assure the maintenance of the Bank’s AAA credit ratings by global credit rating agencies.
Ms. Tshabalala brings nearly 30 years of experience in management, finance, and risk management. She was the Chief Executive Officer of a private financial and engineering consulting firm, Barbican Advisory Group from 2013 to 2018. Prior to that, she was CEO of the investment company, IDG Group from 2006 to 2012. She was Group Treasurer for the Transnet SOC, South Africa.
Swazi graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Lawrence University, USA in 1989, and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Wake Forest University, USA, obtained in 1992.
