From The Guardian

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will elect a new president at the end of the month as its current leader, Donald Kaberuka, steps down after a decade in charge.

Eight candidates are in the running to take over from Kaberuka, who is credited with steering the bank through the tumultuous 2008 financial crisis and ramping up infrastructure lending.

The bank is one of the continent’s biggest lending institutions, rivaling the World Bank in financing infrastructure projects to improve electricity, transport and water services. In 2013, the bank approved almost $3.16bn (£2bn) in loans and grants to infrastructure projects on the continent, according to its annual report.

Kaberuka, Rwanda’s former finance minister, was voted into office in 2005. Last month, he said the bank needs to do more to spread Africa’s economic growth and called on his successor to focus on reducing inequality across the continent.

Founded in 1964, the bank has 80 member countries, including 26 non-African states. Its mission is “to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty in Africa”.

On 28 May, the board of governors will vote on the next president of the AfDB. The candidates to take over from Kaberuka are nearly all African government ministers, with the exception of one head of a regional development group and one former AfDB official.

Each candidate has submitted a vision statement that details their priorities for the bank. Last month, seven of the eight contenders met at the Center for Global Development in Washington DC to outline these priorities. The candidates outline their views below.

Read more at The Guardian