SA’s Swazi Tshabalala loses out on AfDB presidency to Mauritanian Sidi Ould Tah

South Africa’s hopeful and the only female candidate for the presidency of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Swazi Tshabalala, has lost out on the position to Mauritanian economist Sidi Ould Tah.

Shareholders of Africa’s premier development finance institution met in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, this week to elect a successor to Akinwumi Adesina, whose second five-year term came to an end. Voting took place on Thursday, where Tah was confirmed the winner.

“Tah was elected by the bank’s board of governors, comprising finance and economy ministers or central bank governors of the bank group’s 81 regional and non-regional member countries. The board is the highest decision-making authority for the bank group,” the AfDB said.

His win means the presidency of the bank will again stay between West and North Africa. Southern Africa had fielded two candidates, Tshabalala and Zambian economist Samuel Maimbo. This caused a rift within the regional body Sadc, which publicly endorsed the Zambian, but SA refused to back down.

Tah previously served as director-general for the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa. He also served as an expert at the Mauritanian Bank for Development and Commerce between 1984 and 1986, then as a financial analyst at the Food Security Commission in 1986.

He also worked as a financial analyst at the Khartoum-based Arab Authority for Agriculture, Investment and Development between 1996 and 1999. Thereafter, he served as investment promotion officer and then technical assistant to the president of the Islamic Development Bank. 

He was the adviser to Mauritania's president and prime minister, respectively, in 2006 and 2008. In 2008, he was nominated and appointed as Mauritanian minister of economy and finance.

Tshabalala joined AfDB in 2018 after she was appointed as vice president of finance and CFO. She previously served as a finance manager at Standard Bank Group and as group treasurer at Transnet.

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana previously commended Tshabalala for her contribution and commitment to achieving the AfDB’s vital goal of increasing investment in the continent.

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