Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 2nd September 2015: The African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, warmly welcomes and extends her best wishes to the new President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina who assumed office on 1 September, 2015.

“It is my great pleasure to welcome you as President of the African Development Bank. Congratulations, once again, for your brilliant election during the last Annual Meeting of the Bank in May 2015. I look forward to working with you, and strengthening the productive relationship our two institutions have cultivated over the years. I wish you the very best of success, as we work together to make Africa a much better place for our people.” Dr. Dlamini Zuma wrote to Dr. Akinwumi Adesina as he begins his five-year mandate at the helm of the AfDB.

The AUC and AfDB have a long history of collaboration, crowned in their joint efforts towards the creation and articulation of Agenda 2063, Africa’s fresh roadmap toward integration, the building of prosperity, sustainable growth and development.

Dr. Adesina, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria, is the 8th President of the African Development Bank and the first Nigerian to be elected to the position. He succeeded Rwanda’s Dr. Donald Kaberuka, who held the position for 10 years.