On September 2, 2025, Sidi Ould Tah stepped into his new role as president of the African Development Bank (AfDB). He inherits a stronger balance sheet, a larger capital base, and an institution with real influence across the continent. But he also inherits tough challenges: do more with less aid, “unlock” private capital, and above all deliver jobs in a continent with a surging population.
Tah has promised reforms and new partnerships, but whether his agenda takes hold depends on something more fundamental: the Bank’s capabilities as defined by its resources, processes, and priorities (RPPs). If AfDB’s RPPs align with the realities of today’s development challenges, the institution has a real shot at using its capital to create new markets that will generate jobs. If not, “unlocking capital” may remain just a slogan.
RPPs 101
The concept of an organization’s RPPs is simple, and one I’ve previously written about. An organization is capable of doing only what its resources, processes, and priorities allow it to do.
- Resources are what an institution has: people, money, relationships, and tangible assets.
- Processes are how the work gets done: the decision rules, approvals, and ways of communication and coordination.
- Priorities are the choices that ultimately get put ahead of others: the goals that are funded, measured, and rewarded.
Put together, RPPs explain why some organizations are capable of transformation while others get stuck in old patterns. Multilateral development banks’ (MDBs) capabilities can also be assessed through RPPs.
AfDB’s RPPs today: strengths and gaps
The good news is that AfDB has some strong resources. The Bank has expanded its capital, it has convening power across governments and investors, and Tah’s personal relationships with Gulf partners could open new funding windows.
However, the bank’s processes remain a hindrance. Like many MDBs, AfDB tends to favor primarily funding infrastructure projects and providing non-concessional financial assistance to governments. These loans and grants tend to be risk-averse yet they still require a long multi-tiered approval. In his inaugural speech, Tah stated, “The time for delivery has begun”, and that he plans to bridge the divide between “urgency and bureaucracy” seemingly acknowledging that a change in processes may be necessary to address Africa’s rapidly growing challenges.
Finally, Tah has already said the Bank must “focus where it can move the needle most.” That’s the right instinct. To make it real, AfDB’s priorities need to translate into clear outcomes: capital unlocked and jobs created. And there is a clear path to doing just that.
Part 1: Financial Innovation to Unlock Capital
In today’s development environment, donor budgets are stretched and foreign aid continues to dwindle at a rapid pace. Unlocking private capital isn’t just a nice idea—it’s essential. That’s where financial innovation comes in. Financial innovation means designing tools that use limited concessional capital to crowd in additional investment.
Take the MicroBuild Fund, a fund that lends to microfinance institutions which in turn provide small loans to low-income families to help them improve and build homes. In 2012 Habitat for Humanity launched the fund with just $10 million of catalytic, risk-absorbing equity, and they were able to attract $90 million in debt. Twelve years later Microbuild Fund is its own LLC, and has disbursed $230 million, and enabled $1.18 billion in housing lending for low-income families.
One dollar of high-risk capital unlocked nine dollars of private capital, a multiplier effect AfDB can and should emulate
For AfDB, the menu of resources is already familiar: guarantees that de-risk local banks, blended finance structures that bring in institutional investors, and results-based finance that pays for outcomes like electricity connections. The difference will be whether these instruments move from the margins to the mainstream of AfDB’s work.
But unlocking capital is just step one. Where the money flows matters just as much. Capital that doesn’t create new markets won’t create lasting jobs.
Part 2: Market-creating innovations to pull in jobs that last
This is where market-creating innovations (MCIs) come in. MCIs are products and services that transform something once too expensive or inaccessible into something simple and affordable for the masses. They don’t just open up consumption, they create entirely new industries. And with them, new jobs.
The jobs MCIs generate are powerful because they’re pulled in by demand, not pushed by temporary programs. When a new market forms, it needs distributors, service providers, technicians, and managers. The growth sustains itself.
We’re starting to see this across many sectors in Africa already. Sunfi’s solar solutions have created networks of technicians, installers, and field agents making electricity accessible to the many who lived in darkness. MAX’s mobility platform has formalized thousands of drivers with training, insurance, and financing. Even in seemingly niche areas like eyecare, DOT Glasses has trained low-cost screeners to reach people who otherwise would have gone untreated.
This is the kind of job creation that Africa needs: rooted in demand, in markets, and therefore resilient over time. For AfDB, the opportunity is clear: pair financial innovation with investments in MCIs.
RPPs as the lever
AfDB has the resources and the ambition. But without aligning its processes and priorities to financial and market-creating innovations, “unlocking capital” risks being more rhetoric than reality.
If Tah can rewire the Bank’s RPPs around these intertwined strategies, AfDB can do more than disburse funds, it can create new markets. And new markets don’t just absorb capital, they generate it. They don’t just create jobs, they sustain them.
That’s the kind of transformation Africa needs. And it’s exactly the kind of legacy a new president has the chance to leave behind.
