Le Beninese Minister of State for the Economy and Finance Romuald Wadagni has expressed his ambition to now lead the African Development Bank (AfDB) as a pre resident.

Romuald Wadagni intends to replace the Nigerian Akinwumi Adesina at the head of the Bad. The minister believes that he has “very good chances of winning”. “The career and achievements in eight years at the Ministry of Economy and Finance give credibility to my candidacy”, he confided. A graduate of the Harvard Business School and the École Supérieure des Affaires de Grenoble, Romuald Wadagni spent most of his career at Deloitte, in France, then in the United States. He also held the position of Quality and Risk Director for all Deloitte subsidiaries in French-speaking Africa as a chartered accountant by training, before taking over the general management of the audit firm in the Democratic Republic of

^{The application process, which was launched on July 1, 2024, will end on January 31, 2025.} The election of a new president at the head of the ADB will take place on 29 May 2025 on the occasion of the institution's Annual Meetings, which are scheduled to take place in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire