By Umaru Fofana
Sierra Leone’s foreign minister, Dr Samoura Kamara was in Zambia and Kenya yesterday drumming up support to become President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
He will later this week leave for Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom before returning home on 17th May.
The election itself will happen at the 50 Annual Meeting of the Bank taking place in Abidjan in the week of 25-29 May.
Speaking to Politico from Nairobi, Dr Kamara said “the contest is tough” but that he was confident of clinching Africa’s top banking position.
He said President Ernest Bai Koroma had recently spoken to his Namibian, Zambian, Libyan and Algerian counterparts on his behalf and that he had also met with the movers and shakers of Africa’s geopolitics and banking sector.
“Countries are not giving clear and open commitment of support to one candidate or another because it is high politics, but I am very hopeful because I have the credentials” the former finance minister and central bank governor said.
There are seven other candidates gunning for the top job including a woman. They are Akinwumi A. ADESINA who is Nigeria’s minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development Sufian AHMED, Tunisia’s former finance minister Jaloul AYED, Kordjé BEDOUMRA who is Chad’s finance minister, Cristina DUARTE the finance minister of Cape Verde, Thomas Z. SAKALA a retired ADB worker from Zimbabawe, and Birama Boubacar SIDIBE from mali who is Vice-President of the Islamic Development Bank.
© Politico 13/05/15
