High intrigue as tightest race yet for AfDB president draws to a vote

Donald Kaberuka, outgoing President of the African Development Bank last annual meeting's address

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has in recent years sought to stay out of the hot political spotlight, preferring to shunt attention to its developmental agenda, but the tight race for its presidency has morphed into one of its most exciting yet, pitting high-level power play against individual credentials and the cashing in of political favours.

It threatens to rival if not surpass the drama of the 1995 election which saw a stalemate that was only resolved two months later, and in favour of Morocco’s Omar Kabbaj against the candidate from Nigeria, which again has a horse in the race.

Well-placed sources close to the behind-the-scene election games at the AfDB, which is currently holding its Annual General Meetings, which have provided the backdrop for outgoing president Donald Kaberuka’s swan song, indicated there is frenzied lobbying and tight horse trading, with the eight candidates Wednesday set to meet AfDB governors ahead of the anticipated May 28 vote.

The role of the so-called non-regionals, members who are not from Africa but who wield a powerful vote, will also be in the spotlight, with the US reportedly having told its missions that it had no preferred candidate. But few would believe it. Former AfDB president, Kwama Fordwor of Ghana in 1981, two years after the end of his tenure, complained how over-politicisation and bureaucracy had starved the now 50-year bank of much-needed capital, with the effect that the US did not make much-needed financial contributions for seven years until 1999 because it thought the bank was being run badly. 

What is known is once the green and yellow ballots have been counted, there will be a lot of hurt feelings, several bruised egos and grudges quietly filed away.  A winning candidate needs at least 50.01% of both the regional and non-regional votes.

Kabbaj is credited with the sweeping reforms that gave back the bank its credibility, especially with the non-regionals who were brought on board in 1982 to help increase its weak capital base and who now hold 40% of the voting power, but also with regional members who had complained of rampant AfDB interference in national affairs.