Hannah’s view
This week in Abidjan, shareholders will pick a new leader of the African Development Bank, the continent’s largest bank. Our research at Development Reimagined shows AfDB has about a third of the spending footprint of the World Bank on the continent, with a focus on hard infrastructure, and has carved a very strong role for itself over successive presidencies.
Most interviews and campaigns by the five potential candidates for the new presidency have focused on distinguishing differences related to what they will do, what they will prioritize, and how they will raise more funds for the AfDB’s cheapest lending instrument, the African Development Fund.
But anyone who has worked in a large institution knows, what you do is as much a function of how you do it. As the AfDB prepares for new leadership, what is needed to take the bank to its next level is a bold shift in how the bank works. Over the next five and more years, AfDB needs to begin to proudly do business in an African style, and in particular undo the conventions inherited from the Bretton Woods institutions.
African fashion offers a compelling metaphor. Whether it’s Kente from Ghana, Pagne Baoulé fabrics from Côte D’Ivoire, or Kitenge from our East African region, African fashion is bold, local, and yet globally aware. Designers draw from heritage, yes — but they also adapt, combine, and reinvent. The result is a distinctive style that doesn’t just mimic Europe or Asia — it defines itself. This is exactly what the AfDB must do.
For too long, the AfDB has emulated its global peers. Understandable, perhaps, given its origins in a recently post-colonial world where financial credibility was defined externally, as well as the significant influence of its non-regional members. But our continent today is different. Our ambitions for better integration, manufacturing potential, and proven innovative strategies demand a new approach.
What would doing business in an African style involve? It would involve three transformative steps.
First, eliminate differential access to financing instruments based on income thresholds. Currently, African countries are classified as low, lower-middle, or upper-middle income — each category restricting or enabling access to different instruments. This approach is outdated. Income per capita does not adequately reflect vulnerability or opportunity. Indeed, the AfDB already has an example of a fund that did not impose these distinctions — the $2 billion Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF) — an instrument that was co-founded by the AfDB and China in 2014 — which it can learn from.
Equity should not mean treating unequal countries identically; it means recognizing the nuanced development impact of each project without excluding middle-income countries from concessional or blended finance when they clearly still face structural barriers.
Second, change how the AfDB assesses debt sustainability. Currently, like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the AfDB’s metrics fail to differentiate between types of spending. A country that borrows to build roads, rail, or energy grids is lumped in with one borrowing for salaries or subsidies. This makes no economic sense. African countries are punished for capital investments that will yield long-term gains. An African-style approach would refine debt assessments to distinguish between productive and recurrent spending. This would align financial discipline with development logic, and empower governments making smart investments.
Third, prioritize cross-border projects over national ones. With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) now operational, the AfDB must lead in turning political integration into real, physical, and financial integration. Yet too many bank instruments still favor single-country lending because that’s how project risk is assessed. Structuring instruments that incentivize and de-risk cross-border infrastructure — transport corridors, energy pools, digital links — would make the AfDB a true engine of continental unity. Just as African fashion blends patterns across regions, African finance should support development that transcends borders.
The next president of the AfDB must resist the instinct to preserve the old, inherited templates. Instead, he or she must stitch together a new model — one rooted in African priorities, tastes, and strategies. Not isolated from global ideas, but not beholden to them either.
In short, it’s time the AfDB wore its own fabric, not a tailored suit borrowed from elsewhere.
Hannah Ryder is the founder/CEO of Development Reimagined, a global development consultancy. A former diplomat and economist with 20 years of experience, she is also senior associate for the Africa Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.