Kenya’s Treasury minister Njuguna Nd’ung’u to head AfDB board

Njuguna Ndung'u, Hassan Abdalla, Akinwumi Adesina

Kenya's Treasury minister Njuguna Ndung'u with Egypt's Central Bank Governor Hassan Abdalla and AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina during a ceremony in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, on May 26, 2023.

Photo credit: AfDB

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Treasury and National Planning, Njuguna Ndung’u, will chair the board of governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), for the next one year, heading the highest decision making body of the continental lender.

The changeover on Friday from Egypt’s Hassan Abdalla to Kenya means Prof Ndung’u, a former Central Bank governor in Kenya, will chair the development lender ahead of the next annual meetings to be hosted in Nairobi in May next year.

Njungna Ndung'u, Hassan Abdalla

Treasury minister Njungna Ndung'u with Egypt's Central Bank Goevrnor Hassan Abdalla, who is the outgoing chair of the AfDB board, during a ceremony in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, on May 26, 2023.

Photo credit: AfDB

The AfDB, which lends exclusively to African countries, usually rotates its board chairs among member states.

Each member state sends a governor and alternate governor to the board, meaning there are two representatives per member state, but their voting powers depend on the country's shareholding.

AfDB event in egypt

Officials including Kenya's Treasury minister Njunguna Ndung'u (3rd left), Egypt's Central Bank Governor Hassan Abdalla (4th left) and AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina (2nd right) during a ceremony in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, on May 26, 2023.

Photo credit: AfDB

In his acceptance speech, Prof Ndung’u said Nairobi will support the AfDB’s quest to expand access to finance, especially as alternative sources of funding dry up globally.

“The need for quality infrastructure to attract private investments in our countries is putting pressure on financing requirements in the already tight budgets, hence the need to be innovative in ways of resource mobilisation to finance infrastructure development and enhance the profitability of private investment," CS Ndung'u said at a ceremony in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

“The role of the development institutions is crucial in pooling and mobilising the required resources for mitigating the adverse effects of the geopolitical tensions, Covid-19 pandemic, food security and climate change."