PROFILE: The 7 candidates Akinwunmi Adesina must defeat to become AfDB president

THOMAS ZONDO SAKALA, ZIMBABWE

Sakala, 59, is an experienced Zimbabwean economist and development banker. He was vice president of AfDB, in charge of Country and Regional Programmes until his resignation in October 2014. In that capacity, he was a member of the Senior Management Team of the Bank led by President Kaberuka, contributing to its overall strategic direction and institutional performance.

He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) and an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. He also undertook research work on the anticipated challenges of land and agricultural transformation in post-independent Zimbabwe at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. His early years were spent in rural Zimbabwe where he attended primary and secondary school.

Prior to joining the AfDB, Sakala worked three years as senior research and principal planning officer in the Ministry of Manpower Planning and Development in Zimbabwe, which carried out Zimbabwe’s first post-independence National Manpower Survey. He was part of the survey’s central coordinating team and was one of the architects of its major policy recommendations, many of which were implemented by the government.

Sakala has worked in, and with, African countries all through his professional career. During his rich career at the AfDB, spanning 31 years, he worked in most of the operational and institutional areas of the institution.

He has visited and worked on many development projects across the continent in agriculture, education and skills development, health, infrastructure (transport and communications, water and sanitation, energy), capacity building and governance. Besides his country of origin, he has lived in Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia and the UK. He also lived in Nigeria, including four years as the bank’s country representative.

During the four years he was in charge of the Programming and Budget Department, the bank’s administrative budget grew by about US$140 million. He is also reputed for setting up and managing country and regional offices under the decentralisation programme of the bank, thus bringing the bank closer to its clients.

He has the support of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and was selected as its candidate for the presidency in the forthcoming elections and is the only candidate from the sub region.