Akinwumi "Akin" Adesina CON is a Nigerian economist, who is currently serving as the President of the African Development Bank. He previously served as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.^[2] Until his appointment as Minister in 2010, he was Vice President of Policy and Partnerships for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).^[3] He was elected as the President of the African Development Bank in 2015 and re-elected for a second term in 2020. He is the first Nigerian to hold the post.^[4]

Adesina was born to a Nigerian farmer in Ibadan, Oyo state.^[5] He attended a village school and had a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Economics with First Class Honors from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria in 1981.^[6] He was the first student to be awarded this distinction by the university. He pursued further studies at Purdue University, Indiana and briefly returned to Nigeria in 1984, to get married.^[7] He obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 1988 from Purdue, where he won the outstanding Ph.D. thesis for his research work.^[8]

From 1990 to 1995, Adesina served as a senior economist at West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) in Bouaké, Ivory Coast.^[9] He worked at the Rockefeller Foundation since winning a fellowship from the foundation as a senior scientist in 1988. From 1999 to 2003, he was the representative of the Foundation for the Southern African area.^[10] From 2003 to 2008, he was an associate director for food security.^[11]

Adesina was the Nigerian Agriculture Minister from 2010 to 2015.^[12] Adesina was named Forbes African Man of the Year, for his reform of Nigerian agriculture. He introduced more transparency into the fertiliser supply chain.^[13] He also said that he would give away mobile phones to farmers, but this proved too difficult. One of the reasons was lack of a mobile network in country areas.^[14]

In 2010, United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed him as one of 17 global leaders, to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals.^[4]

On 28 May 2015, Adesina was elected the presumptive President of the African Development Bank. He began his tenure of the office on 1 September 2015.^[15]

In September 2016, Adesina was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to serve as member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.^[16] In 2017, he was awarded 2017 World Food Prize.^[17]

On 27 August 2020, Adesina was re-elected as President of the Africa Development Bank for a second term of five years.^[18]

While at Purdue University, Adesina and his wife, along with another couple, started a Christian group called the African Student Fellowship.^[7] He and his wife, Grace, have three children, Rotimi, Emmanuel and Segun.^[19]

• Adesina was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2015.^[20]
• In 2013, he was named as Forbes Africa Person of the Year.^[14]
• In 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor by Afe Babalola University.^[21]
• In 2019, he was again named as the Forbes Africa Person of the Year.^[22]
• On January 28, 2020, he was awarded Honorary Doctor of Science by the Federal University Of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.^[23]
• On May 14, 2022, he was awarded Honorary Doctor by Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, for his contributions to the field of economics.^[24]
• In March 2024, Adesina received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration by Bayero University, Kano.^[25]

• 2019 : Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia.^[26]
• 2023 : Doctor of Science by Veritas University Abuja https://www.veritas.edu.ng/