Akinwumi "Akin" Adesina CON is a Nigerian economist, currently serving as the President of the African Development Bank. He previously served as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Until his appointment as Minister in 2010, he was Vice President of Policy and Partnerships for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). He was elected as the President of the African Development Bank in 2015 and re-elected for a second term in 2020, becoming the first Nigerian to hold the post.
Early Life and Education
Adesina was born to a Nigerian farmer in Ibadan, Oyo state. He attended a village school and earned a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Economics with First Class Honors from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1981, becoming the first student to receive this distinction from the university. He pursued further studies at Purdue University in Indiana and briefly returned to Nigeria in 1984 to get married. He obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 1988 from Purdue, where he won the outstanding Ph.D. thesis award for his research.
Career
From 1990 to 1995, Adesina served as a senior economist at the West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) in Bouaké, Ivory Coast. He began working at the Rockefeller Foundation in 1988 as a senior scientist after winning a fellowship from the foundation. From 1999 to 2003, he was the Foundation's representative for the Southern African area, and from 2003 to 2008, he was an associate director for food security.
Adesina served as the Nigerian Agriculture Minister from 2010 to 2015. He was named Forbes African Man of the Year for his reforms in Nigerian agriculture, which included introducing more transparency into the fertilizer supply chain. He also attempted to distribute mobile phones to farmers, but the initiative faced challenges due to the lack of mobile networks in rural areas.
In 2010, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed him as one of 17 global leaders to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals. On May 28, 2015, Adesina was elected the presumptive President of the African Development Bank, beginning his tenure on September 1, 2015.
In September 2016, Adesina was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to serve as a member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. In 2017, he was awarded the World Food Prize. On August 27, 2020, Adesina was re-elected as President of the African Development Bank for a second five-year term.
Personal Life
While at Purdue University, Adesina and his wife, along with another couple, started a Christian group called the African Student Fellowship. He and his wife, Grace, have three children: Rotimi, Emmanuel, and Segun.
Recognition
- Adesina was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2015.
- In 2013, he was named Forbes Africa Person of the Year.
- In 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Afe Babalola University.
- In 2019, he was again named Forbes Africa Person of the Year.
- On January 28, 2020, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.
- On May 14, 2022, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, for his contributions to the field of economics.
- In March 2024, Adesina received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration from Bayero University, Kano.
Honours
- 2019: Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia.
- 2023: Doctor of Science by Veritas University, Abuja.