The United Kingdom says it looks forward to the election of a new leader at the African Development Bank (AfDB) as Akinwumi Adesina’s 10-year tenure ends.

However a spokesperson didn’t say if the country had a particular preference for any of the five candidates vying to lead the Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire headquartered AfDB, Africa’s biggest development finance bank.

“The selection of the President is important to the Bank’s success and therefore is of key interest to the UK,’’ a spokesperson said in an emailed response to CNBC Africa. “Ultimately, we believe that the selection of this role is a decision for the African region to make collectively. We look forward to continuing to work with the Bank and the next President when their tenure starts next September.”

Ex-World Bank senior official Samuel Maimbo of Zambia is taking on Senegal’s Amadou Hott, ex-special envoy of the bank’s Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa, South Africa’s Swazi Tshabalala, a former Vice President, Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah, former Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa and Chad’s former Finance Minister Mahamat Tolli.

To win the presidency, a candidate must get a majority of votes from both the African shareholders who own 60 percent of the bank, and non-African shareholders, who are referred to as non-regional members, who control 40%.

Adesina, a former Nigerian agriculture minister, championed Africa’s agriculture as a unique investment opportunity during his term. He also focussed on providing power to the more than 600 million Africans still without electricity, launching an $8 billion project together with the World Bank in January.

The AfDB, the only African financial institution rated triple A by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, will select the new leader next month.

Its top five shareholders are Nigeria with 8.2%, followed by the United States at 6.6%, Egypt has 5.6% while Japan owns 5.5% and South Africa holds 5.1%.