Monrovia โ At the auspicious launch of the Liberia Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) today at the EJS Ministerial Complex, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina in a compelling address from his invaluable lessons from his decade of leadership at the Bank and his tenure as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture outlined key target that the Government of Liberia must consider in its quest to achieve success.
In a clarion call to Liberian leader Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., Dr. Adesina admonished the Liberian President to have โcompelling visionโ as the number one of the lessons in the implementation of the โARRESTโ agenda.
Dr. Adesina stressed the paramount importance of vision as the “compass that leads to success.” He emphasized that a vision must be “compelling” and a “moral call” capable of inspiring ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things.
Drawing from his own experience, he recounted how his “High5s” vision for the AfDB โ Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life of the people of Africa โ initially met with skepticism but ultimately proved transformative. He highlighted a UNDP assessment that found achieving the High5s would fulfill 90% of the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Dr. Adesina lauded the ARREST agenda (Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation, and Tourism) as powerful, if well implemented, noting its alignment with the AfDB’s High5s.
“You can therefore count on the African Development Bank to deploy more financing to Liberia to translate the power of this vision to concrete impacts on the lives of the people of Liberia,” the AfDB President pledged.
Dr. Adesina underscored the necessity of demanding measurable results as the second lesson. He detailed the AfDB’s organizational overhaul, which aligned its structure and monitoring framework with the High5s, creating five Vice Presidencies each responsible for a High5. This enabled rigorous measurement of impact and accountability, with annual Key Performance Indicators and performance contracts for all staff, linked across departments and country offices to ensure joint delivery.
The AfDB President third crucial lesson focused on holding Ministers accountable. Speaking as a former Minister, he asserted that Ministers are not “small Presidents” but are primarily responsible for helping the President succeed by delivering measurable results. He shared a powerful personal anecdote from his time as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, where he deliberately set an “extremely ambitious” target of producing an additional 20 million tons of food over four years. Despite presidential advice to lower the target, he stood firm, telling then Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, “if I was given the resources and the full support I needed… and we do not deliver… all the President had to do was simple: fire me!” This bold stance, he revealed, led to exceeding the target, producing 21 million tons.
Dr. Adesina went on to advice Liberian Ministers: “set very high targets. If your target is too realistic, you are too comfortable; you are not doing enough.”
Dr. Adesina outlined his fourth lesson as encouraging teamwork. He introduced his “Baobab” principle, illustrating how collective effort is essential to tackle challenges too large for individuals or single departments. He urged Liberian Ministers to “forget about their egos” and work together, emphasizing that “we deliver more when we work together, instead of each one standing in and defending their own siloed territories.”
The AfDP President recommended a clear plan for joint delivery across departments and agencies and suggested an “Inter-Agency Presidential Performance Awards program” to incentivize collaboration, promoting a “ONE Government approach.”
Executing via a One Government approach. Dr. Adesina explained how the AfDB broke down silos to create a “One Bank” model, aligning all efforts towards common goals, much like different sections of a car assembly plant contribute to one final product, the fifth of his lessons.
Sixth, Dr. Adesina advised, “donโt just blow the whistle, use your yellow card or red card”, a strong warning to President Boakai of underperforming officials of government. He commended President Boakai’s decision to conduct performance appraisals and sanction non-compliant public officers.
However, Dr. Adesina urged strict enforcement of performance reviews and consequences for non-performance, stating that in an elected office with a short four-year term, there is no time for “Performance Improvement Plans” or “baby-sitting poor performers.” He advised, “Where you see under-performance… change the player and change the game plan.”
Finally, the AfDB President called for the reengineering, reform, and strong support of the civil service and an independent judiciary. Echoing President Boakai’s inauguration speech on restoring dignity and integrity to the civil service with “livable remuneration and pension schemes,” and upholding the rule of law. He highlighted the importance of a performance culture within the civil service and commended the launch of Liberia’s Service Delivery Charter, emphasizing that its effectiveness lies in how citizens assess service quality. Dr. Adesina concluded by stressing that an independent and well-supported judiciary is the “backbone for national development.”
The AfDB President passionately stated that Liberia, with its “vast natural resources, has no business with being poor.” He urged the nation to prioritize managing these resources for its people, ending the export of raw materials in favor of value-added products, which he called the “highway to wealth.” Dr. Adesina furthered with an inspiring message about Liberia’s diversity as its strength and its “genes of hope, strength and resilience,” urging Liberians to “Arise and shine; for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”
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