Nairobi, Sept. 6 -- After a year in office, Sidi Ould Tah has begun to reshape how the African Development Bank (AfDB) raises money and prepares projects. Delivery, however, is the harder test.

On May 29, 2025, shortly after his election as the ninth president of the AFDB Group, Dr Tah stood before the Bank's governors and guests at the Sofitel Abidjan Hotel Ivoire. His expression gave little away. Stoic, almost solemn, he thanked Africa, the Bank's partners and those gathered in the room, then said simply: "Let's go to work now, I'm ready!"

On September 1, he took office. A year on, the question is whether the initiatives of his first 12 months amount to a coherent architecture for finance and delivery, and whether that architecture ca...