ADB elects Rwadan Finance Minister to head Bank

Accra, July 21, GNA - The African Development Bank has elected Dr Martin Kaberuka, Rwandan Finance Minister, as President of the Bank. Ghana News Agency sources in Tunis on Thursday said Dr Kaberuka polled 80 per cent of the votes while Nigerian Dr Olabisi Ogunjobi, Vice-President in Charge of Operations West and Central Africa, polled 20 per cent.

Dr Kaberuka would replace Mr Omar Kabbaj, who has led the Bank Group over the last 10 years. The Tunis election was necessitated by a stalemate in an earlier process in Abuja at the Annual Meetings in May in which both candidates failed to obtain the required votes.

A successful candidate needs to obtain a majority of 50.1 per cent of the votes of the regional member countries and 50 per cent of the total votes of the member countries. Dr Martin Kaberuka, 54, who previously held Rwanda's Budget and Planning portfolios, is the longest serving Cabinet member clocking eight years to date and widely credited to be one of the key members of President Paul Kagame's successful reconstruction team. He has had private engagement in banking, industry, finance and international commodity diplomacy. 21 July 05