In what was billed as the pivotal encounter — the Great Debate — in the race to lead the African Development Bank. Five candidates were expected to step forward and present their visions. The Africa CEO Forum had prepared a stage for ideas, not posturing. Only one came ready to lead. This is the story of what happened — and what didn’t.
I.
They called it the great Debate.
Abidjan’s halls gleamed with expectation.
The Africa CEO Forum would host not just a debate,
But a reckoning.
Not of personalities, but of visions.
Who among the aspirants could carry Africa’s bank —
Not with slogans,
But with scale?
II.
Five contenders were billed.
Four were expected.
Only two truly showed up.
III.
Two confirmed, then declined.
One never confirmed at all.
Silence, it turns out, can be strategy —
Or surrender.
IV.
The lady from the Orange Country,
Sharp-suited, fluent in institutionalese,
Had long held the second seat.
She knew the Bank’s machinery — its rhythm, its wires —
And spoke of tuning the engine,
Of streamlining what exists.
But when the hour called for propulsion,
Her podium remained untouched,
Like a strategy document that clears committee
But never quite ignites.
V.
The gentleman from the Copper Belt,
A systems thinker with a passport full of multilateral stamps,
Carried the aura of global consensus.
His vision?
Measured. Operational.
Grounded in delivery frameworks.
But he never stepped into the ring.
Perhaps realising that checklists can’t confront tectonic shifts —
That balance is not a strategy
In a world demanding ambition.
VI.
The central banker from the Sahel
Had bowed out early.
A custodian of currency and calm,
He measured stability in basis points,
But dreamt no highways,
No energy corridors,
No continent-sized recalibrations.
He chose discretion,
Preferring the safety of silence
To the shock of the new.
VII.
The Technocrat from the Atlantic coast did arrive.
Earnest. Composed.
He brought charts, keywords, reform packages.
But the numbers stood taller than the narrative.
He spoke of good intentions,
Of sound policy and inclusion.
Yet the room didn’t move.
The plan was decent —
But it didn’t ripple.
VIII.
And then,
There was the Matador.
IX.
He entered alone.
Yet the stage contracted around him.
Not through charisma,
But clarity.
Not with applause,
But with architecture.
X.
The only one who treated the Bank
Not as a job,
But as a lever.
Not as a bureaucracy,
But as a launchpad.
XI.
He spoke of the Four Cardinal Points —
Each sharpened by urgency.
XII.
Access to capital,
Leveraging Gulf wealth, private capital, Diaspora remittances.
Every dollar turned into ten.
Not metaphorically. Mechanically.
XIII.
Financial sovereignty,
A continent-wide credit architecture
Where Africa speaks not in borrowed tongues,
But in its own governance,
Its own terms,
Its own weight at the global table.
XIV.
Demographic transformation,
Not as a demographic dividend cliché,
But as an economic strategy.
From informal workers to formal entrepreneurs.
From youth in queues to youth in motion.
An Africa Skills Passport —
To mobilise talent like infrastructure,
And value it as such.
XV.
Climate resilience and value addition,
Not just net zero,
But net worth.
Not just exporting minerals,
But owning the chain — start to finish.
Bridging rural to urban, analog to digital,
Legacy to leapfrog.
XVI.
He spoke of women —
Not as a box to tick,
But as central players in the growth equation.
Not uplifted, but unleashed —
With capital, credit, and a seat at the head of the table.
XVII.
He spoke of youth —
Not as a problem,
But as Africa’s greatest multiplier.
XVIII.
And of a continent that stops waiting to be empowered
And starts pricing its power.
XIX.
No jargon.
No borrowed mission statements.
Just direction.
And design.
XX.
And so what was to be a clash
Became a composition.
The empty chairs said as much
As the voices that filled the hall.
XXI.
Some will say they stayed away for strategy.
Others will whisper it was timing.
But those who were watching
Saw something simpler,
More honest.
A quiet decision not to be measured —
Not today —
Against a plan that doesn’t echo others,
But drowns them.
XXII.
For facing the Matador without a map
Was never a debate.
It was a reveal.
The matador and the empty chairs, By Chinedu Moghalu
A Chronicle from the Africa CEO Forum 2025 in Abidjan
In what was billed as the pivotal encounter — the Great Debate — in the race to lead the African Development Bank. Five candidates were expected to step forward and present their visions. The Africa CEO Forum had prepared a stage for ideas, not posturing. Only one came ready to lead. This is the story of what happened — and what didn’t.
I.
They called it the great Debate.
Abidjan’s halls gleamed with expectation.
The Africa CEO Forum would host not just a debate,
But a reckoning.
Not of personalities, but of visions.
Who among the aspirants could carry Africa’s bank —
Not with slogans,
But with scale?
II.
Five contenders were billed.
Four were expected.
Only two truly showed up.
III.
Two confirmed, then declined.
One never confirmed at all.
Silence, it turns out, can be strategy —
Or surrender.
IV.
The lady from the Orange Country,
Sharp-suited, fluent in institutionalese,
Had long held the second seat.
She knew the Bank’s machinery — its rhythm, its wires —
And spoke of tuning the engine,
Of streamlining what exists.
But when the hour called for propulsion,
Her podium remained untouched,
Like a strategy document that clears committee
But never quite ignites.
V.
The gentleman from the Copper Belt,
A systems thinker with a passport full of multilateral stamps,
Carried the aura of global consensus.
His vision?
Measured. Operational.
Grounded in delivery frameworks.
But he never stepped into the ring.
Perhaps realising that checklists can’t confront tectonic shifts —
That balance is not a strategy
In a world demanding ambition.
VI.
The central banker from the Sahel
Had bowed out early.
A custodian of currency and calm,
He measured stability in basis points,
But dreamt no highways,
No energy corridors,
No continent-sized recalibrations.
He chose discretion,
Preferring the safety of silence
To the shock of the new.
VII.
The Technocrat from the Atlantic coast did arrive.
Earnest. Composed.
He brought charts, keywords, reform packages.
But the numbers stood taller than the narrative.
He spoke of good intentions,
Of sound policy and inclusion.
Yet the room didn’t move.
The plan was decent —
But it didn’t ripple.
VIII.
And then,
There was the Matador.
IX.
He entered alone.
Yet the stage contracted around him.
Not through charisma,
But clarity.
Not with applause,
But with architecture.
X.
The only one who treated the Bank
Not as a job,
But as a lever.
Not as a bureaucracy,
But as a launchpad.
XI.
He spoke of the Four Cardinal Points —
Each sharpened by urgency.
XII.
Access to capital,
Leveraging Gulf wealth, private capital, Diaspora remittances.
Every dollar turned into ten.
Not metaphorically. Mechanically.
XIII.
Financial sovereignty,
A continent-wide credit architecture
Where Africa speaks not in borrowed tongues,
But in its own governance,
Its own terms,
Its own weight at the global table.
XIV.
Demographic transformation,
Not as a demographic dividend cliché,
But as an economic strategy.
From informal workers to formal entrepreneurs.
From youth in queues to youth in motion.
An Africa Skills Passport —
To mobilise talent like infrastructure,
And value it as such.
XV.
Climate resilience and value addition,
Not just net zero,
But net worth.
Not just exporting minerals,
But owning the chain — start to finish.
Bridging rural to urban, analog to digital,
Legacy to leapfrog.
XVI.
He spoke of women —
Not as a box to tick,
But as central players in the growth equation.
Not uplifted, but unleashed —
With capital, credit, and a seat at the head of the table.
XVII.
He spoke of youth —
Not as a problem,
But as Africa’s greatest multiplier.
XVIII.
And of a continent that stops waiting to be empowered
And starts pricing its power.
XIX.
No jargon.
No borrowed mission statements.
Just direction.
And design.
XX.
And so what was to be a clash
Became a composition.
The empty chairs said as much
As the voices that filled the hall.
XXI.
Some will say they stayed away for strategy.
Others will whisper it was timing.
But those who were watching
Saw something simpler,
More honest.
A quiet decision not to be measured —
Not today —
Against a plan that doesn’t echo others,
But drowns them.
XXII.
For facing the Matador without a map
Was never a debate.
It was a reveal.
Chinedu Moghalu
Abuja, May 13, 2025
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