Nominee for World Bank Group President Meets African Development Bank Group President

Ajay Banga began his global tour on Monday, with his first stop in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire where he met Dr Akinwumi Adesina, senior management and the Board of Directors. Banga spoke about the need for the World Bank Group to develop a strong partnership with the African Development Bank Group that would help deliver transformative results. The candidate for the top job highlighted three major issues affecting many parts of the world, which he said were of significant concern to him. He said these were inequality, tension between humanity and nature, and the tendency to apply short-term solutions to long-term problems which only delivers poor results. Banga said the challenges facing the world got complicated because of the Covid-19 pandemic, environmental degradation, and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine War. Adesina said Banga’s call for a regenerated partnership resonated with him. He stressed the need for a new way of working between the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

AFDB