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Last Friday witnessed a significant event that provided great optimism for an African continent wracked by conflict, poverty, climate change, rising debt and food insecurity.

Former World Bank President Jim Yong Kim (2012-2019) delivered the 2023 Kofi Annan Eminent Speakers Lecture organised by the African Development Institute, a unit of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

The institute is described as a “world-class learning organisation … co-creating knowledge and leading institutional capacity development with regional member countries to guide inclusive and sustainable development across Africa.”

Dr Kim and host AfDB President Dr Akinwumi Adesina adroitly captured the lecture’s theme, ‘The Changing Global Development Finance Architecture: Implications for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) Post Covid’.

The lecture provided optimism in the sincerity of humility, ethics and integrity of leadership epitomised by two exemplary MDBs leaders, qualities they attribute to Annan’s mentorship and association.

Their narration of Africa’s immense potential for development, investment destination and relief from extreme poverty, hunger and disease at the event deserves more hallowed space than the confines of this Op-ed.

In summary, Kim informed African leaders that human capital is the continent’s greatest resource, noting that human development systems that integrate policies and activities across social sectors are more impactful.

Kim urged Africa to leverage the private sector to plug the development finance gap, especially climate finance, infrastructure development and emerging markets, citing Global Infrastructure Partnership (GIP) where he now works.

GIP is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager founded by Nigerian Adebayo Ogunlesi. Kim described him as “probably the most brilliant human being I have ever met”, who built the fund from nothing to over $100 billion in assets under incredibly successful management.

Kim is convinced that private financial capital and MDBs including the AfDB could help complete the building of the Grand Inga hydroelectric power dam in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which could double electricity access in Africa.

He says Covid-19 was the worst disaster of the 21st Century that derailed the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. The pandemic caused the global GDP to shrink by 43 per cent in 2020, pushing 70 million people, most in Africa, into extreme poverty – an 11 per cent increase.

Dr Adesina, described in the respected newspaper The Guardian headline as ‘Africa’s optimist-chief on Africa’s renaissance’, echoed Kim’s sentiments, saying Africa’s financing gap needs $1.2 trillion through 2030 to finance the Sustainable Development Goals.

And $277 billion (only $30 billion was available in 2019/2020) is needed from the global financial architecture to finance climate adaptation, Africa’s most critical development challenge. It also means the tripling of multilateral bank capital and doubling of financial aid.

Amid multiple shocks of war, turmoil and economic turbulence, a deficit of ethical leadership qualities harshly reminds us of the exemplary character of Kofi Annan.

Many Kenyans are familiar with his mediation role in the 2007 post-election violence that rescued the country from the brink of a catastrophe. Effective leaders such as Annan, Kim and Adesina exude highly ethical behaviour that enhances their leadership capabilities.

We remember Annan’s famous quote: “We are all in the same boat, one leak in the boat and we all sink together.” The global development boat is leaking, and unless we seal the leakage edifice – climate change and hunger – we face devastating consequences.

Leaders must bring integrity, respect and empathy to our societies and lead with moral clarity and conviction.

— The writer comments on governance and development issues – [email protected]