It has not withdrawn its support for South African Swazi Tshabalala as future president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the biggest development finance institution in Africa, the South African government says.
Even though the presidency issued a statement on Wednesday that acknowledged the Sadc decision, senior officials told the Sunday Times that Pretoria had not asked Tshabalala to withdraw.
The statement said: “The South African Government cabinet endorsed the candidacy of Ms. Swazi Tshabalala for the presidency of the African Development Bank on 07 August 2024. However, the Southern African Development Community [Sadc] decided on the contrary. Therefore, South Africa abides by the collective decision of the community. South Africa further recognises that the ultimate decision rests with the bank's shareholders.”
The statement is said to have caused confusion in diplomatic circles as some interpreted it to mean that South Africa had caved in and was now toeing the Sadc line. But senior officials made it clear this week that Tshabalala’s campaign had the government’s full support.
A fierce feud is brewing in the Southern Africa region after the regional body chose to support Zambia’s Samuel Maimbo — a senior executive at the World Bank. Maimbo was chosen after the regional body conducted interviews, snubbing Tshabalala, who until recently was vice-president of the bank.
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana told the Sunday Times that the government still backed Tshabalala and that the statement was not a withdrawal but an explanation that South Africa’s stance was not in defiance of the Sadc decision. “She is still in the race,” Godongwana said.
South Africa abides by the collective decision of the community.
— Presidency statement
Sadc issued a statement last week saying Maimbo was chosen through a process that had been agreed to by member countries. This was in response to a Sunday Times report that SA had argued against Maimbo’s name — and suggested that the region choose another candidate as Zambia was the last Sadc country to hold the top position.
The South African government is said to believe that shareholder countries do not vote as a bloc and can lobby for their preferred candidate. SA is said to be preparing to send a delegation to lobby individual countries at upcoming World Bank and International Monetary Fund gatherings.
The election will take place in May 2025 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where outgoing bank president Akinwumi Adesina will be replaced. Other candidates include Senegal’s Amadou Hott, Tanzanian Frannie Léautier, and Abbas Mahamat Tolli from Chad. Adesina is believed to back Hott to succeed him.
The South African government perceives the position of the president of the AfDB as strategic as the bank holds shareholder capital of $318bn. Insiders said the aim is to lobby for the bank to divert some of the funding to the southern African region, which has been lagging behind other African regions.
They said the government believes that the bank should focus on forging partnerships with existing development finance institutions such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
The bank’s biggest shareholders in Africa include Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco. Other major shareholders are the UK, US, Japan, Germany, China, France, Italy, Sweden, Canada and Switzerland.
Tshabalala joined the AfDB in 2018 as vice-president for finance and chief finance officer, and was appointed senior vice-president in November 2021. She has worked for various companies in South Africa including Transnet, MTN, Standard Bank, SAA and Tiger Brands.
She resigned from the bank two weeks ago after South Africa’s announcement that it would lobby member countries with voting powers, including Nigeria, to back her candidacy. Last week she told Business Times that if elected, she would usher in an era of historic private sector mobilisation towards the continent’s development, and reform the AfDB to be a more agile institution.
“There is also obviously a strong feeling that because we are, in the main, funded by member countries, all of them are facing their own struggles and we are not doing enough to mobilise financing from the private sector.
“The way we view capital is different from the way that the private sector views capital. So I think that in any partnership having that understanding is an advantage in the context of this push by the G20 [Group of 20] that we should do more.
“I bring that unique perspective, and I have already demonstrated it.” she said.
Tshabalala will be championed by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his senior cabinet ministers such as Godongwana, international relations and co-operation minister Ronald Lamola and minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.