Outgoing BADEA President and AfDB President-Elect Sidi Ould Tah on his vision and priorities

At the OPEC Fund Development Forum 2025 we caught up with outgoing BADEA President and AfDB President-Elect Sidi Ould Tah on his vision and priorities, as well his proudest achievements during his time leading BADEA.

What do you bring to AfDB from your 10 years at BADEA?
The first thing I bring is the spirit of partnership. As part of the Arab Coordination Group (ACG), we’ve seen the power of coalition-building. We need a broader alliance that includes development banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and investment funds to close the financing gap.

That’s the beauty of partnership. BADEA is part of the ACG, and over the past 50 years, for every dollar of our own resources, we’ve been able to mobilize four to five dollars from fellow ACG members.

When it comes to partnerships, what are your proudest achievements?
I’m very proud of the achievements of the ACG especially of the strong partnership between BADEA and the OPEC Fund. Together, we’ve delivered real solutions across many African countries. We’ve helped provide education for girls in the Sahel, supported boarding schools that reduce early marriage and expanded access to water, roads and electricity in rural areas. We’ve also co-financed climate adaptation projects in agriculture. These are just a few examples of the impact we’ve achieved by working hand in hand.

What are your priorities for your new role at the AfDB?
I have three main priorities: youth employment, youth employment and youth employment. Africa’s population is growing rapidly. By 2050, one in four people will be African and our workforce will be larger than those of India and China combined. We need to prepare for that now, by developing digital skills and unlocking new opportunities for youth. We also need to support micro and small enterprises, which represent around 90 percent of Africa’s economy. A recent study found that 80 percent of them lack access to finance. So we must help them build capacity, access markets and create jobs.

How can we scale up private sector involvement?

Africa has a huge gap in infrastructure financing—about US$100–170 billion per year is needed. The combined balance sheets of multilateral development banks are not enough, so the only solution is to bring in the private sector. The private sector also brings efficiency, speed and scale, so we believe MDBs should rely more on private investors, especially to build resilient infrastructure. Our role as MDBs is to de-risk investments and create the conditions for private sector involvement.

This is also a question of returns, isn’t it?
Yes, it’s about returns—but it’s estimated that most independent power producers in Africa are delivering good returns. And Africa has one of the lowest failure rates globally.

Partnership Snapshot:

The OPEC Fund and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) share one of the most enduring and productive partnerships within the Arab Coordination Group (ACG). Over the decades the partnership has delivered over 250 joint operations with a total value of US$4.8 billion, with each institution contributing over US$2.4 billion. BADEA has also administered 135 OPEC Fund loans worth US$1.2 billion, underscoring the depth and operational synergy between the two institutions.

Together, the partners have co-financed transformative projects in education, rural water supply, transport, energy access and climate-resilient agriculture, including landmark initiatives to improve girls’ education in the Sahel, connect rural areas to markets, and expand sustainable infrastructure.