After a notable stint within the Bank of Central African States, the former governor is now seeking the position of president of the African Development Bank as illustrated by the dubbing of his candidacy and the unanimously by the 11 countries of the Economic Community of Central African States (Ceeac).
At 51 years old, the native of Abéché is to date the only declared candidate from Central Africa for the post of president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), whose election is scheduled for 2025. Announced at the end of the Conference of Heads of State and Government held on March 9, 2024 in Sipopo, Equatorial Guinea; the heads of state and government undertake “to give him their full support as the sole candidate from Central Africa for the post of president of the AfDB group and calls for solidarity from the community of Member States as well as “in support of other African countries for this candidacy”, we can read in the final press release.
It is therefore a new round which will be played out for a citizen of the sub-region, after the failure of 2015 around the candidacy of the Chadian Bedoumra Kordjé, beaten by the Nigerian Akinwumi Adesina, the current president of the ADB whose the mandate expires in August 2025. Faced with this failure which seems distant, the commitment made by the leaders of the ECCAS countries lays the foundations for a challenge to be taken up and strengthens the credibility of the candidacy of Abbas Mahamat Tolli. A credibility which is based not only on the consensus obtained from the heads of state of Cemac but also on the profile of the candidate.
While the declared candidate for Central Africa continues his international lobbying, we have an impressive CV. A graduate of the National School of Administration (ENA) in Paris and the University of Quebec in Canada, he was Minister of Finance (2006 – 2008) and Minister of Infrastructure and Equipment (2011 – 2012) without forget his time as chief of staff of the late President Idriss Deby Itno.
At the sub-regional level, it went through the Central African Banking Commission (Cobac), the Development Bank of Central African States (Bdeac) and the Bank of Central African States (Beac ).
During his tenure at the Bank of Central African States, the public securities market (treasury bills and bonds) experienced significant growth, with an increase of more than 592.3% between 2016 and 2023, from 916 .1 billion CFA francs in 2016 to 6,342.1 billion CFA francs at the end of October 2023. In addition, his time within the bank will have contributed to the establishment of a single financial market in the Cemac zone, in particular the creation of a regional stock exchange (Bvmac) in Cameroon.
It is with weighty arguments both at the local and even sub-regional level that Abbas Mahamat Tolli will conquer the position of president of the AfDB, an institution never headed by a national of Central Africa since its creation in 1964.
