Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo has lauded Dr. Akinwumi Adesina for a decade of “transforming ambition into outcomes” as President of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org), crediting his leadership with improving millions of lives across the continent.

Opening Africa50 General Shareholders Meeting in Maputo on Wednesday, President Chapo thanked Adesina for his impact at both the Bank and as Board Chair of Africa50, an investment platform created by African governments and the Bank to close the continent’s infrastructure funding gap.  

“Your legacy is not just institutional but impacting the lives of Africans, and we thank you and wish you the most success for what the future has in store for you,” President Chapo said.

Africa50 CEO, Alain Ebobissé, also paid tribute to Adesina, highlighting the success of the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA), which Adesina initiated with other partners to mobilize capital to catalyze up to $10 billion green infrastructure opportunities for private sector investment.

A fireside chat, moderated by Nozipho Mbanjwa-Tshabalala, CEO of the Conversation Strategists, explored Adesina’s legacy of institutional transformation, record-breaking achievements, and renewed global confidence in Africa's development prospects.

In his comments, Adesina called for Africa’s vision to be bold and collective, and translated into tangible results, particularly in providing critical infrastructure such as power generation as a foundation for growth.

“Economies that don't have power can never grow. It's a direct correlation with your GDP growth and access to electricity. You can't create jobs, you can't industrialize, and sadly, you are not going to industrialize and be competitive in the dark,” Adesina emphasised.

Challenging perceptions of high investment risk in Africa, he cited Moody's data showing cumulative losses on Africa infrastructure investments of just 1.9 percent over 15 years -- lower than in other regions. “Africa is not as risky as it is perceived -- You can invest in Africa, get great returns in Africa, and have great institutions like us that will always be there beside you, making sure your capital not only comes, your capital stays, your capital grows, and you can take your capital back.”

On youth, Adesina stressed the need to turn Africa’s 420 million young people into an economic asset. “Everything we do needs to be focused on African youth -- If you don’t create youth-based wealth, who is going to pay the taxes in the future?”

A Decade of Unprecedented Growth and Impact

Under Adesina's leadership, the African Development Bank broke records, including growing its capital from $93 billion in 2015 to $318 billion in 2024. This remarkable growth enabled the Bank's flagship "High 5s" initiatives to impact the lives of 565 million Africans across critical areas, including energy access, food security, industrialization, regional integration, and quality of life improvements.

The Bank was ranked the best multilateral financing institution in the world for two consecutive years and maintained AAA credit ratings throughout his tenure, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Africa50: From Vision to Global Infrastructure Leader

Adesina's achievements also extended Africa50, which grew from a concept to a major infrastructure facilitator with, among others, $1.4 billion in managed assets with total portfolio company value exceeding $8 billion, 33 active projects spanning energy, transport, digital infrastructure, healthcare, and education across 32 countries and $275 million raised for the Africa Infrastructure Acceleration Fund from over 20 African institutional investors

As Adesina prepares to handover the leadership of the African Development Bank on 01 September 2025, he said

“My legacy is not a personal one. My legacy is an Africa strong enough to deliver finance for its transformation at scale -- we have come of age, and we can handle issues by ourselves and deliver.