The President of the Africa Development bank, Akinwumi A. Adesina will be addressing students and other attendees at Calvin University’s 2023 Commencement ceremony in Michigan, United States, April 29.
The school in a statement published on its website disclosed this on Thursday.
The institution in the statement lauded the Nigerian born, AfDB President Adesina for his leadership and strides achieved while at the bank
Under Adesina’s leadership, the African Development Bank Group achieved a historic capital increase from $93 billion to $208 billion, making it the highest capital increase since the bank’s establishment in 1964.
Before joining the African Development Bank Group, Adesina served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and is credited with turning the country’s agriculture and agro-processing sector around within four years.
Adesina’s visionary leadership and passion for Africa’s transformation have been widely recognized, and he was awarded the World Food Prize in 2017 and named African of the Year in 2019 by the African Leadership Magazine.
Calvin University President, Wiebe Boer, who worked with Adesina at the Rockefeller Foundation in Nairobi, 15 years ago, described Adesina as an instrument of change in multiple countries and contexts throughout his life.
Boer believes that Adesina’s address will inspire the 700 students representing 28 countries, as they celebrate their graduation and head out to serve in dozens of fields, countries, and contexts.
Adesina holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Ife, a master’s and PhD in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University, and has received honorary doctorates from several universities, including Duke University and Addis Ababa University.
In 2017, he was bestowed with the prestigious ‘Order of the Griffin,’ one of Purdue University’s most esteemed honors, reserved for a select few alumni in the last century, among them American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon.
Adesina’s message will highlight the call of Proverbs 3:27, “to not withhold good from those who deserve it when it is in your power to act,” and will urge the graduates to see it as both a responsibility and a great joy as they go about their life’s work.
Established in 1876, Calvin University has lived into Christ’s promise to make all things new. A world-class Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Calvin exists to empower students as they discover a bold, transformative education rooted in Christian conviction.
Calvin welcomes all who are compelled by God’s work of renewal to join in the formative pursuits of lifelong learning, teaching, scholarship, worship, and service. Discover more at calvin.edu.
