I’m Ready to Help – Akinwumi Adesina Declares After Meeting Tinubu

Former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has declared his readiness to serve Nigeria in any capacity following his meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Adesina made the declaration on Tuesday after meeting with the president.

The former AfDB president said he was willing to support Nigeria in any capacity the President considered appropriate, but stressed that he was not seeking a political appointment or a new job.

“I’m fully able to help Nigeria in any capacity. I’ve always had that. My heart is always at home,” Adesina told journalists after the meeting.

“In any capacity that His Excellency feels I can help, I can help in anything. I’m not looking for a job. I’m not looking for anything.

“It’s my country. I have a duty, an obligation and a responsibility to do so, and I will.”

Adesina explained that his visit was intended to formally inform Tinubu of the completion of his two terms as AfDB president and present a report on the bank’s achievements during his leadership.

He said it was customary and required for him to return home and brief the President on the outcome of his decade-long stewardship of the institution.

“I completed my two terms as President of the African Development Bank, 10 years, and it’s customary and required that I come back home to tell His Excellency the President of the completion of my term, and to give him a report of what was achieved during my term,” he said.

“I took the opportunity to brief His Excellency on that. Mr President was very pleased with what was done and what was accomplished.”

The former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture also disclosed that the AfDB provided approximately $7bn in financing to Nigeria between 2015 and 2025, representing about 63 per cent of the total $11.1bn the bank had committed to the country since it began operations in Nigeria in 1971.

According to Adesina, the figures demonstrate the scale of the bank’s support for Nigeria during his leadership.

“If you look at the bank’s support to Nigeria from 2015 to 2025, it was roughly $7bn,” he said.

“But if you look at the total amount of bank financing to Nigeria since 1971, when the African Development Bank started operations in Nigeria, it has been $11.1bn. So within 10 years, we were able to do 63 per cent, literally, of that.”

He added that Tinubu was pleased with the financial support the bank provided to Nigeria during the period.

Adesina also commended the President’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy and the harmonisation of the country’s foreign exchange windows, saying the measures were beginning to produce positive results despite the difficulties they had created for Nigerians.

“These are very, very important, difficult reforms, but they are beginning to bear some fruits, quite some fruits,” he said.

He pointed to increased foreign exchange availability and the return of portfolio investors as signs of progress, while noting that inflation was trending downwards even though prices remained high.

“You have a lot more foreign exchange available today. You have a lot of portfolio investors coming into the country. You have inflation trending downwards. Prices are still a bit high, but inflation is trending downwards,” Adesina said.

He also said Nigeria’s international standing had changed, citing the more favourable assessments some rating agencies had given the country.

“If you take a look at how the world looks at Nigeria, it’s very, very different. I look at some of the rating agencies, and some of them give Nigeria a stable and also positive outlook,” he stated.

However, Adesina cautioned that economic reforms and stabilisation should not be treated as the final destination, urging the government to focus on structural transformation, economic growth and improved prosperity.

He said the next phase of the administration’s economic programme should build on the reforms already introduced to deliver broader and more sustainable development.

“You have to now move from the issue of the reforms and stabilisation straight into structural transformation and also growth and prosperity, which is what the President is focusing on,” he said.

Describing the current reforms as only the beginning of a larger task, Adesina reiterated his willingness to contribute to Nigeria’s development.

“That’s just the beginning of the work,” he said.

“I told the President, I’m back at home, here to help and ready to help. It’s my country. I love my country, and I’m ready to help.”

Adesina, 66, became the eighth president of the African Development Bank in 2015, making history as the first Nigerian to lead the institution. Before assuming the position, he served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2015.

His tenure at the AfDB ended on September 1, 2025, after two terms, and he was succeeded by Dr Sidi Ould Tah.

During his decade-long leadership, Adesina championed the bank’s High 5 development priorities, which focused on improving electricity access, feeding Africa, industrialising the continent, integrating African economies and improving the quality of life for its people.

Tinubu had previously praised Adesina’s leadership at a farewell ceremony in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in September 2025. In a goodwill message delivered by the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, the President commended his contributions to the bank and the continent.

“We celebrate your decade-long leadership and achievements at the African Development Bank,” Tinubu said in the message.

The President also credited Adesina’s High 5 agenda with helping to drive economic growth and food security across Africa.