African Development Bank President, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah to visit Helsinki

African Development Bank President, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah to visit Helsinki

The President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, will visit Helsinki on Monday 26 January. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is the premier development financier on the African continent and a key partner for Finland in advancing sustainable economic growth and development in Africa at a time when global economic and security policy shifts are reshaping development funding.

While in Helsinki, AfDB President Sidi Ould Tah will meet with Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

"International development finance institutions have an important role to play in promoting sustainable development and economic growth and in strengthening the international rules-based system. Finland promotes economic partnerships, trade and investment in African countries. In an era of global transformation, having reliable partners is more important than ever. Finland aims to deepen its partnership with African countries in fields including strategic competition, trade and investments, critical raw materials and migration," Minister Valtonen says.

The AfDB operates across the whole of the African continent. Finland's membership of the AfDB deepens its wide-ranging partnership with Africa and helps channel additional funding for sustainable development across the continent. As a shareholder of the AfDB and a donor to the African Development Fund, Finland has supported sustainable economic growth and development on the African continent already for decades.

At the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, President Tah will also meet Under-Secretary of State Pasi Hellman, who represents Finland on the AfDB Board of Governors. The discussion will focus on strengthening good governance, the circular economy and the domestic revenue base of African countries, which are priorities Finland advances in its cooperation with the AfDB.

The visit will include a roundtable discussion with representatives of Finnish companies. The discussion will explore how Finnish technology and solutions can be utilised in AfDB-funded projects in fields such as digital connections, the circular economy and critical minerals.

In addition, President Tah will visit Parliament and meet representatives of the Development Policy Committee.

Tah, who took office as AfDB President last September, will also visit Sweden and Norway. As a shareholder of the AfDB, Finland belongs to the same constituency as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Ireland and India. The representative of the Board of Directors in the group is Finnish Pirkka Tapiola, who started in his role last autumn.

The African Development Bank Group also includes the African Development Fund (AfDF), which supports the poorest countries on the continent. An agreement on the 17th replenishment of the AfDF, amounting to USD 11 billion for the 2026-2028 cycle, was reached in December 2025. Finland pledges EUR 45 million for 2026-2028.