Zambia’s candidate for the African Development Bank (AfDB) presidency Samuel Maimbo says he wants Africa’s premier financial organisation to help the continent achieve middle income status. 

Announcing a candidacy he said was backed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Community for Eastern and Southern African States (COMESA), Maimbo said Africa needed bold leadership to achieve this, citing his role in helping raise a $90 billion financing package under the International Development Association replenishment.

“Africa stands at a critical juncture,” Maimbo said in a statement from Lusaka, Zambia. “We need to get one billion people to work as quickly as possible by strategically supporting the industries that will improve livelihoods and ignite prosperity on our continent.’’

The AfDB, the only African financial institution rated triple A by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, selects a new leader next May to replace Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina who completes a two-year term next October. He is not eligible to run again under the bank’s constitution.

Maimbo is bidding to become the second Zambian to hold the Presidency after compatriot Wila Mungomba, who led for a single term between 1980 and 1985. Senegal’s Babacar Ndiaye succeeded him and served two terms till 1995 when Morocco’s Omar Kabbaj took over, also serving two terms. Rwanda’s Donald Kaberuka succeeded him from 2005, also for two terms before Adesina’s arrival.

South Africa, Africa’s largest economy and the bank’s third largest African shareholder after Nigeria and Egypt, initially backed its national Bajabulile Tshabalala, a former Vice President of the Bank,  before the Presidency publicly withdrew the support and threw its weight behind Maimbo as the SADC candidate.

Tanzania’s Frannie Leautier, CEO of Kigali based Southbridge Capital and also a former Vice President of the bank, had also been tipped to be in the running but may also have fallen victim to the SADC consensus on Maimbo. 

Maimbo says his presidency will focus on boosting Africa’s share of global trade from the current 3 percent by unifying the efforts of its 1.4 billion people, strengthening regional markets and modernizing the continent’s infrastructure and agriculture while accelerating energy access in a region where almost two thirds of the population has no access to electricity.

“Africa needs significantly higher rates of growth to successfully navigate today’s development challenges and capture tomorrow’s opportunities,” he said. “I’m ready on day one to support governments in reaching their goals. It’s time to stop talking about Africa’s potential and start realizing it.”

Maimbo’s recently served as the Vice President of Budget, Performance Review, and Strategic Planning at the World Bank where he also served as Chief of Staff to successive World Bank Presidents.

The election will be held on May 29 at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, commercial capital of Cote D’Ivoire.