President Adama Barrow of Gambia has conferred the country's highest national award, 'the Grand Commander of the Order of the Republic of The Gambia, on African Development Bank Group head, Dr Akinwumi Adesina.

Dr Adesina is the second non-Gambian to receive the honour from President Barrow after Senegalese President Macky Sall.

The development bank head received the award during a two-day trip to the West African nation, at a ceremony held in Soma on Monday 2 October. President Barrow said the title was "in recognition of his immense contribution towards the socio-economic development of this country and Africa as a whole."

The government listed some key interventions made by the African Development Bank in The Gambia. They include the transformation and modernization of the Banjul Ports; construction of the Senegambia Bridge; agricultural transformation and climate change mitigation schemes. They also recognized agricultural value chain projects; electricity reinforcement access across the country; institutional strengthening and capacity building; and budget support to help ease fiscal pressures.

A citation read by the government recalled that Adesina has been at the forefront of accelerating Africa's development as president of the African Development Bank.

"Under his leadership, the African Development Bank Group increased its share capital from $93 billion to $208 billion in 2019, the highest in the Bank's history since its inception in 1964," it said.

Adesina led the 'Feed Africa' Summit earlier this year, which brought together 34 heads of state and government, and galvanized development partners, the private sector, and farmers to take transformative action toward food self-sufficiency in Africa. The Summit mobilized $70 billion to implement these actions.

In his acceptance speech, Adesina described The Gambia as an important partner of the African Development Bank. He recalled working as a rice researcher in the country many years ago and said the Bank would work with Gambia to become self-sufficient in rice.

Adesina said: "The honour you have bestowed on me is not personal. It reflects the long partnership that the Bank has had with The Gambia. Sometimes, I wonder what I have done to deserve such an award. My life is useful only to the extent that it helps me improve the lives of others. Nothing more. The African Development Bank will stand beside you, be around you, and support you strongly, and we will continue to see the fruits of our marriage".

Adesina also cited the landmark Senegambia Bridge, wholly financed by a grant from the African Development Bank, as evidence of the Bank's strong partnership with the government to transform the lives of Gambians.

He lauded the European Union Commission for working with the Bank to co-finance 24 kilometres of access roads to the bridge.

Adesina's official visit to Gambia is the first visit by an African Development Bank president in more than 20 years.