AfDB Names 3 Into Review Panel On Allegations Against President

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, on Thursday, said its Boards of Governors has appointed a three-man panel to review the whistle-blowers’ complaint against the President of the bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina.

Members of the High-Level Panel of Independent Experts to conduct the said review, according to a communiqué at the end of its meeting on July 1, are: Mrs. Mary Robinson, Hassan B. Jallow, and Leonard F. McCarthy

“The panel is expected to submit its report to the Bureau within a period of two to four weeks maximum,” the communiqué signed by Ms. Niale Kaba, chairperson of the boards, who represents Côte d’Ivoire.

The bureau expressed “its utmost trust and confidence in the Panel’s ability to successfully carry out this important assignment and reaffirms its commitment to fully assisting the Panel in the process.”

The selection of panel members, it said, is in line with its communiqué issued on June 4, 2020 informing the general public of its decision to authorize an Independent Review of the Report of the Ethics Committee of the Boards of Directors relative to the allegations made by the Whistle blowers.

The bureau assured that the select members of the panel, chaired by Mrs. Robinson, are “individuals with unquestionable experience, high international reputation and professional integrity. The panel will be chaired.

In appointing the panelist, the bureau agreed on the Terms of Reference for the Independent Review at its meetings of June 18, and July 1, 2020, while expressing utmost trust and confidence in t he panel’s ability to successfully carry out the assignment.

Mrs. Robinson, a barrister and former President of the Republic of Ireland, was past United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and now Chairperson of the Elders, a global body of wise persons concerned about the wellbeing of the world.

Justice Hassan B. Jallow, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic of the Gambia, and former Justice of the country’s Supreme Court, was in 2003 appointed a Judge of the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Later that year, he was named Prosecutor of the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and was on February 5, 2017, sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Gambia.

McCarthy is a former Director of Public Prosecutions, ex Director for the Office of Serious Economic Offences, and a former Head of the Directorate of Special Operations of South Africa. Currently President of LFMcCarthy Associates, Inc., an integrity risk management company based in Washington, D.C, USA, he served as the Integrity Vice President of the World Bank for nine years.

The communiqué was jointly signed by the First Vice Chairperson of the Bureau, Christian Asinelli, Alternate Governor for Argentina; and Penda Ithinei, Temporary Governor for Namibia and Second Vice Chairperson of the bureau.

Meanwhile, the AfDB Group, will on Tuesday, July 7, virtually launch its African Economic Outlook 2020 Supplement, which revises its growth projections and outlook for Africa for 2020 and 2021, highlighting the impact of COVID–19 on Africa’s socio-economic landscape.

The COVID-19 pandemic, it noted in a separate statement, “has resulted in economic disruptions that have changed the strong growth projections the African Development Bank reported in January in the 2020 African Economic Outlook.”

The supplement, the first in the 19-year history of the African Economic Outlook, it continued, “revises the growth projections and outlook for Africa for 2020 and 2021 and highlights the impact of COVID–19 on Africa’s socio-economic landscape.

The report to be presented by Dr. Hanan Morsy, the bank’s Director of the Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department and thereafter discussed by a panel of senior policymakers and private sector practitioners, “recommends workable policy responses to safely reopen economies and accelerate growth recovery.”

The statement described the AEO as the AfDB’s flagship report which serves as a tool for economic intelligence, policy dialogue and operational effectiveness. The report is read widely by the public, including policymakers, academics, investors, development practitioners and the media.

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