Republished with permission of Pan African Visions

Unless the US government  is holding some secret that the American public is not aware of, I see absolutely no reason why it should  not wholeheartedly support the re-election of President Akinwumi Adesina for a second term at the   helm of the African Development Bank, says Dr Mima Nedelcovych  Former U.S. Exec Dir to the AFDB.

In an exclusive interview with Pan African Visions, Dr Nedelcovych says "If competing with the Chinese in Africa is primordial to the US, then supporting the position of our African fellow shareholders in the AFDB and supporting President Adesina is in our own interests."

With his vision and execution of the "High 5s" for Africa, Dr Adesina has contributed tremendously to the development of the continent, and President Obasanjo and other former African Presidents have every reason to come out in public support of the champion that the current AFDB President is, Dr Nedelcovych says.

For me, those accusations that were made public and investigated by the Ethics Committee, have been responded to in great detail by President Adesina to my full satisfaction," says Dr Nedelcovych

Dr Adesina  and the AfDB have stepped up  when most needed for an African institution to lead the way in the responses to the Covid-19 pandemic ,says Dr Nedelcovych who also shares his take on expectations for a second Adesina term, and  how U.S -African relations have fared under the first term of President Donald Trump.

President Adesina, in his vision and execution of the "High 5s" for Africa, has contributed an awful lot to the development of the African continent, says Dr Nedelcovych

Beyond your stint at the Bank, we know you continue to monitor developments closely, have frictions of this nature or such stark contrast in positions been common between the USA and the AFDB?