US lynching tactics at AFDB backfiring (II)

Thank you, Obasanjo and other African elder statesmen for demonstrating leadership when it mattered most. For once, there is no single dissenting voice from any of the African heads of state against the sole candidature and second term of Akinwumi Adesina as AfDB President. For once, Africa has got that right. But the current state […]

Thank you, Obasanjo and other African elder statesmen for demonstrating leadership when it mattered most. For once, there is no single dissenting voice from any of the African heads of state against the sole candidature and second term of Akinwumi Adesina as AfDB President. For once, Africa has got that right.

But the current state of affairs had been predictable all along. Last February, World Bank president, US citizen, David Malpass, at a World Bank/IMF debt forum in Washington, criticised the AfDB for excessive lending which, he said, contributed to Africa’s debt problems.  He accused the AfDB of “pushing large amounts of money into Nigeria, South Africa, and others without the strongest programme to sustain it and push it forward.”

The AfDB took exception to Malpass’ accusation which it saw as “impugning the integrity of the African Development Bank, undermining our governance systems, and incorrectly insinuating that we operate under different standards from the World Bank.”

Some international ‘logicians’ have been arguing in the media that the fact that allegations were hurled at the AfDB president at all signified that he had something to hide. We shall not bother to subject that kind of pedestrian thinking to the crucible of logic. Some of them don’t even know the difference between being decently dressed and being flamboyant!

Emotional outbursts are unhelpful in the present circumstances, so let’s re-examine the facts.

A faceless group of whistleblowers made varied allegations of impropriety against President Akinwumi Adesina. They did not provide any evidence, save for a miserable photograph.

In accordance with the bank’s governance rules, the Bank’s Ethics Committee, made up of Executive Directors representing shareholder nations, deliberated over all the allegations over a three-month period and cleared Adesina on every single allegation. The report described the allegations as frivolous, baseless, and without merit or evidence.

The Bureau of Board of Governors has reviewed and upheld the decision exculpating Adesina.

Following the US request for a reinvestigation, the Board of Governors has decided that there will be no new investigation but an independent reviewer will now take a dispassionate look at the process by which the Ethics Committee of the Board and the Bureau of the Board of Governors came to its rulings.

The investigation is over. It is the process of arriving at the final decision that will be reviewed together with the Whistleblower policy which, as it stands, appears to give room to frivolous petitions.

And don’t let anyone fool you that Africa is a totally helpless economic entity.  In an incisive analysis, Ayo Adene notes as follows:

“According to global consulting firm McKinsey, Dakar (Senegal), and Kano (Nigeria) are among African cities that will develop markets worth more than $10 billion by 2020. Imagine the buying and selling Africans could actually do, if Hausa speakers in francophone Dakar didn’t need to “do a French stopover” before interlocuting with their anglophone/Arabized brothers in Kano?

“That’s the problem the 2019 African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) was designed to solve. In France’s Europe, up to 70% of trade is among other European nations. In Africa, that number is 10-15 percent. If successfully implemented, the agreement will create a single African market of over a billion consumers with a total GDP of over $3 trillion. This will make Africa the largest free trade area in the world.

“Improving trade is why we have an AfDB, since 1964, to finance the infrastructure and commerce between us. Why is America getting in the way?”

In a globalised economic system, Africa needs all well-meaning partners to help the continent develop. But all concerned must respect the rules of the game and not change the goalposts midway, as succinctly elaborated by the former Governor of the Nigerian Central Bank and ex-Emir of Kano, HH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

“I have watched Adesina at AfDB and his stellar performance is there for all to see”, said Sanusi. “This is not about defending a Nigerian or a friend; it is about standing up for what is right, for justice and for principle. Africa and its friends must stand up at this point. My hope is that everyone will see reason and respect the rules. … If you don’t like the rules, change them but not retroactively.”

The African continent stands behind Adesina not just because he is an African but because he has done nothing wrong.

Raila Odinga (AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa) spoke the mind of the continent: “We have faith in Adesina as a proven and experienced leader who is prioritising Africa’s development and who has proved his ability to guide the bank effectively and honourably during this critical time for Africa. Mr. Adesina has proved his deep belief in lifting Africans out of poverty through a deep understanding of development issues and economic and political reform. We urge him to relentlessly pursue the goals set out in his vision and which are in line with our aspirations as a people and a continent. We further urge those who have misguided agendas to cease and desist. This is the time to stabilise AfDB, not destabilise it.”

It was under Obasanjo’s leadership as military head of state that Nigeria adopted the American presidential system of government. That says something for the man’s admiration of the US. So, when that kind of personage is outraged that America is carrying its meddlesomeness too far, it is in US interest to listen. The things that the US got away with in the past, if repeated today, could make it lose out in the race to be the number one influencer of Africa.