Deep divisions over graft-accused AfDB boss

The US and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have fallen out over allegations of corruption against the bank's Nigerian head, Akinwumi Adesina. The board of governors of the 55-year-old institution last week met to discuss whether to bring in an outside investigator to probe his conduct just days after the US rejected an initial inquiry that cleared him. The prospects of an independent probe comes only three months before he was expected to be re-elected unopposed at the AfDB’s AGM in August. BBC News reports that the allegations of ‘impunity and bad governance’ from unnamed employees have exposed a rift between Adesina and AfDB staff. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin personally signed a letter to the board rejecting an internal investigation that cleared Adesina. ‘Mnuchin's move is significant because it has now cast a limelight on governance issues and on (the) importance of an independent investigation to uphold the integrity of the AfDB,’ said Barbara Barungi, the bank's former lead economist on Nigeria. Besides the core 54 African countries, the US is one of the 27 non-regional members of the AfDB and its second largest shareholder.

Full BBC News report