Nigeria has doubled its voting rights in the African Development Bank (AfDB) to 16.8 percent before the lender’s annual meetings next week, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Africa’s most populous nation became the biggest rights holder by far, followed by so called non-regional members Germany with 7.4 percent and the U.S. with 5.5 percent, according to a memorandum sent to governors on Aug. 20 Bloomberg said.
Nigeria boosted its voting power by paying subscriptions it had pledged as part of a general capital before the January deadline.
The move may allow Nigeria to help keep Akinwumi Adesina in the presidency for another five-year term when the vote takes place on Aug. 27. Unlike in 2015 when he faced off against Chadian Finance Minister Kordje Bedoumra and Cape Verde’s Agriculture Minister Cristina Duarte, this time he is the sole candidate.
The annual meetings will take place virtually between Aug. 25 and 27 after they were postponed in May because of the spread of the coronavirus.
Last month, an independent panel backed an African Development Bank probe that found no evidence of wrongdoing by Adesina, 60, in his bid to seek re-election as head of the continent’s biggest multilateral lender.
The AfDB is Africa’s biggest multilateral bank.
The bank has launched a $10 billion crisis-response facility for African nations.
Its shareholders include 54 nations on the African continent and 27 countries in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia.