Akinwumi Adesina | |
---|---|
8th President of the African Development Bank | |
Assumed office 1 September 2015 | |
Preceded by | Donald Kaberuka |
Nigerian Agriculture Minister | |
In office 2010–2015 | |
President | Goodluck Jonathan |
Preceded by | Abba Sayyadi Ruma |
Succeeded by | Audu Ogbeh |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Nigeria | 6 February 1960
Alma mater | University of Ife Purdue University (PhD) |
Akinwumi "Akin" Adesina CON is a Nigerian economist, who is currently serving as the President of the African Development Bank. He previously served as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.[2] Until his appointment as Minister in 2010, he was Vice President of Policy and Partnerships for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).[3] He was elected as the President of the African Development Bank in 2015 and re-elected for a second term in 2020. He is the first Nigerian to hold the post.[4]
Adesina was born to a Nigerian farmer in Ibadan, Oyo state.[5] He attended a village school and had a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Economics with First Class Honors from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria in 1981.[6] He was the first student to be awarded this distinction by the university. He pursued further studies at Purdue University, Indiana and briefly returned to Nigeria in 1984, to get married.[7] He obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 1988 from Purdue, where he won the outstanding Ph.D. thesis for his research work.[8]
From 1990 to 1995, Adesina served as a senior economist at West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) in Bouaké, Ivory Coast.[9] He worked at the Rockefeller Foundation since winning a fellowship from the foundation as a senior scientist in 1988. From 1999 to 2003, he was the representative of the Foundation for the Southern African area.[10] From 2003 to 2008, he was an associate director for food security.[11]
Adesina was the Nigerian Agriculture Minister from 2010 to 2015.[12] Adesina was named Forbes African Man of the Year, for his reform of Nigerian agriculture. He introduced more transparency into the fertiliser supply chain.[13] He also said that he would give away mobile phones to farmers, but this proved too difficult. One of the reasons was lack of a mobile network in country areas.[14]
In 2010, United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed him as one of 17 global leaders, to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals.[4]
On 28 May 2015, Adesina was elected the presumptive President of the African Development Bank. He began his tenure of the office on 1 September 2015.[15]
In September 2016, Adesina was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to serve as member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.[16] In 2017, he was awarded 2017 World Food Prize.[17]
On 27 August 2020, Adesina was re-elected as President of the Africa Development Bank for a second term of five years.[18]
While at Purdue University, Adesina and his wife, along with another couple, started a Christian group called the African Student Fellowship.[7] He and his wife, Grace, have three children, Rotimi, Emmanuel and Segun.[19]