Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank
Akinwumi “Akin” Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (2015 – till date).
Adesina was born to a Nigerian farmer in Ibadan, Oyo State. He attended the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University) for his bachelor’s degree and graduated with a First Class Honors in Agricultural Economics in 1981. He proceeded to Purdue University in Indiana, USA where he obtained his PhD (Agricultural Economics) in 1988. Adesina served as a senior economist at West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) in Bouaké, Ivory Coast from 1990 to 1995. He was representative for Southern Africa, Rockefeller Foundation from 1999 to 2003. He was also the Associate director for food security, Rockefeller Foundation from 2003 to 2008.
In 2010, he was appointed the Minister of Agriculture, of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by former President Goodluck Jonathan, a position he held till 2015. In 2015, Adesina became the 8th President of the African Development Bank. In 2017, he won the World Food Prize.
