His father was a farmer who earned very little. Akinwumi Adesina grew up in Nigeria knowing what it meant to depend on the soil, and he built his career on the belief that agriculture could make Africa rich. In 2015 he became president of the African Development Bank, one of the most important financial institutions on the continent.
An agricultural economist
Adesina studied agricultural economics in Nigeria and earned his doctorate at Purdue University in the United States. He worked for international agricultural research organisations and the Rockefeller Foundation, focusing on how to raise farmers’ productivity in Africa.
Minister of agriculture
From 2011 to 2015, he served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture under President Goodluck Jonathan. He introduced an electronic wallet system that sent subsidised fertiliser and seed vouchers directly to farmers’ mobile phones, bypassing middlemen who had captured much of the subsidy. The reform was widely praised for reducing corruption in fertiliser distribution.
“Agriculture as a business”
Adesina often argued that Africans should treat agriculture as a business rather than a way of life or a development programme. He talked about the need to add value to crops, process food locally and attract young people to farming.
AfDB president
He was elected president of the African Development Bank in 2015 and re-elected in 2020, serving until 2025. He launched the “High 5s” agenda: light up and power Africa, feed Africa, industrialise Africa, integrate Africa and improve the quality of life of Africans.
World Food Prize
In 2017, Adesina received the World Food Prize, often described as the Nobel Prize for agriculture, for his work on improving food production and farmers’ access to inputs.
Controversy
His second term faced scrutiny when whistle-blowers raised allegations about his conduct at the bank. An independent review panel cleared him, and he was re-elected.
His style
Adesina is known for his bow ties and his energetic speeches. He has become one of the most recognisable voices on African development, urging investment in farming and infrastructure.
Feed Africa
Under Adesina, the African Development Bank invested heavily in agriculture, including programmes to raise production of crops such as wheat, rice and maize, and to provide improved seeds to millions of farmers. During the food price crisis that followed the war in Ukraine in 2022, the bank launched an emergency food production facility to help African countries grow more of their own food. Adesina argued that Africa had enough land and water to feed itself and much of the world if it invested properly.
Africa still imports much of its food. Adesina spent his career arguing that this is a business opportunity rather than a fate. Whether his successors prove him right will decide a great deal about the continent’s future.
