Samuel Maimbo: The Quiet Force Ready to Lead AfDB into Africa’s Future

By Ajong Mbapndah L

As Africa stands at a crossroads, faced with both immense challenges and unprecedented opportunities, the race for the next president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) is more than a leadership contest—it is a test of vision, authenticity, and the ability to deliver real change.

 Among the six contenders, Samuel Munzele Maimbo emerges not through bombast or sweeping promises, but through a rare blend of technical expertise, deep lived experience, and an unwavering belief in Africa’s potential to craft its destiny.

Backed by heavyweight endorsements from SADC Chairperson Emmerson Mnangagwa, COMESA Chairperson Evarist Ndayishimiye, and his head of state, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and a host of other leaders across the continent, Maimbo’s candidacy carries both regional clout and a quiet moral authority.

 But what sets him apart even more is not the support he commands, but the ideas he champions—ideas rooted in the conviction that Africa’s time is not coming; it is here, and it demands leaders who can walk the talk.

Maimbo speaks with the deliberateness of someone who knows the weight of promises made to a continent that has been promised too much and delivered too little. His tone is not that of a man campaigning for a title; it is of someone inviting Africa to finally, irrevocably, believe in itself.

 His words aren’t polished for applause—they carry the practical realism of years spent wrestling with the complexities of development finance at the highest levels, notably during his tenure as a senior official at the World Bank.

"Our economies are not laboratories," he begins, voice steady but urgent. "They are marketplaces, farms, tech hubs, and classrooms—where the hopes of millions are forged every day." It’s a point he returns to often: that policy must live in the streets and markets, not just in glossy reports. For Maimbo, the future of the AfDB must not be about abstract discussions in boardrooms; it must be about tangible, visible, measurable change.

He sees the African Continental Free Trade Agreement not merely as a document to be celebrated, but as a battlefield for values. In a continent often trapped in the endless cycle of debating frameworks rather than outcomes, Maimbo is blunt: "We must stop debating documents. We should debate values—the value of trust between nations, the value of youth participation, the value of shared prosperity. If we get the values right, the trade will follow."

His philosophy is shaped by a career that has not only spanned continents but has always stayed rooted in Africa’s realities. At the World Bank, he was a respected voice in financial sector reforms, fragility recovery programs, and digital economy initiatives.

He authored key publications such as "Financial Sector Policy and the Poor" and "Remittances and Financial Inclusion in Africa," reflecting a mind that sees finance not as an end in itself, but as a means to empower those historically excluded from economic opportunity.

Yet in conversation, it’s the human dimension that dominates. Maimbo is animated when he speaks of young entrepreneurs trying to scale businesses without reliable internet or affordable credit.

His voice tightens when reflecting on the millions of women locked out of financial systems that were never designed with their needs in mind. "If we continue to build structures that exclude women and youth, we are constructing a future destined to fail," he says. It's not rhetoric for him; it’s a deeply personal mission.

Central to Maimbo’s vision is a bold reimagining of the AfDB’s role as a catalyst for the digital economy. He envisions an Africa where broadband access is not a luxury for the few but a basic public good. "The digital economy is not just the future—it is the now," he stresses.

 "Our young people are not waiting. They are innovating, hustling, and creating. Our job is to build the digital highways they can run on."

For all his optimism, Maimbo does not shy away from confronting Africa’s current vulnerabilities, especially the crippling dependency on external debt. With the precision of a financial surgeon, he dissects the trap: "We cannot achieve sovereignty if every project we dream of is mortgaged to creditors who see us as risk, not as opportunity."

He advocates for smarter domestic resource mobilization, a revamped strategy for sovereign borrowing, and innovative financial instruments tailored to Africa’s unique context. His ambition is clear: an AfDB that strengthens African governments' ability to raise, manage, and spend their revenues transparently and effectively.

His leadership style, built on years of navigating the world’s toughest development challenges, reflects a refreshing humility. Maimbo is neither flashy nor prone to grandiosity. Instead, he is measured, almost surgical in how he connects ideas to outcomes.

He speaks of infrastructure projects that are not vanity endeavors but living ecosystems for job creation, local industry stimulation, and social mobility.

A new railway is, in his telling, not just a track—it’s the bridge to a farmer getting her produce to a regional market, a young engineer getting their first job, a small business expanding its reach beyond a national border.

Throughout our conversation, what emerges most strikingly is his belief in consistency over charisma. Africa, he argues, has suffered not from a lack of ambition but from the stop-start inconsistency of political will and policy implementation.

He recalls how, in his work in Afghanistan and other fragile states, building trust among stakeholders often mattered more than the amount of financing. "Policy consistency," he emphasizes, "is more powerful than any single investment. It's what turns a truck journey from Cape Town to Cairo from a dream into a daily routine."

Maimbo’s ideas aren’t plucked from academic exercises—they’re forged from hard-won lessons, sharpened by navigating the failures of past development models and seeing firsthand what works. His insistence on cutting bureaucracy to speed up AfDB project disbursements speaks to this. "Development delayed," he warns, "is development denied."

At a time when Africa's demographic curve is skyrocketing—with 70% of the population under 25—his focus on rapid, scalable job creation is both timely and critical.

But again, he resists the temptation of quick fixes. Jobs, in his model, come from systemic shifts: in infrastructure, digital access, small business support, and financial sector reforms that democratize opportunity.

When asked about the daunting weight of expectations should he win, he smiles—an expression of quiet resolve rather than bravado. "The expectations are heavy because they are real.

Our people are tired of promises. They deserve performance." His response is not defensive. It is grounded in a deeper truth: that the true test of leadership is not popularity at election time but credibility in the hard, slow work that follows.

As May 29 draws near, Samuel Maimbo stands as more than just a candidate. He embodies a generation of African thinkers and doers who refuse to accept a second-best future. His campaign is not about radical reinvention but about the disciplined unlocking of Africa’s long-suppressed energies.

Maimbo’s writings, including "Fragile States: Financial Sector Solutions for Building Resilience," reveal a practitioner who understands that economic sovereignty, political stability, and social inclusion are all parts of the same indivisible whole. He knows the terrain; he carries the scars of battles fought in boardrooms and conflict zones alike.

If elected, Samuel Maimbo will inherit not just an institution, but the hopes of a continent weary of being told to wait. And judging by the clarity of his ideas, the authenticity of his commitment, and the steady wisdom of his leadership style, he looks ready not only to shoulder that burden, but to transform it into lasting, measurable progress. Because for Maimbo, the future of Africa is not a distant dream. It is a duty, a discipline, and above all, a promise waiting to be kept.