Africa.
Ethiopian finance minister Sufian Ahmed, Sierra Leone´s foreign minister Samura Kamara and former ADB vice president Thomas Sakala of Zimbabwe round out the list.
Foreign investors will likely play the role of kingmaker in choosing the next ADB chief.
The United States — the ADB´s second-biggest shareholder after Nigeria — will have a central role in the vote, as will Japan and China.
France wants a bank president who is “more concerned about the interests” of Francophone Africa, the finance ministry says.
But analysts say Western powers need to take a new view of Africa.
“The West has held on to a vision that was true 30 years ago, of an empty, rural continent with a colonial trading post economy, heavily dependent on raw materials and the trickling-in of foreign aid,” said Rigouzzo, a former chief of France´s development agency.
Africa “is still seen as waiting for handouts, but we are no longer in that situation,” he said. “Public development aid now accounts for less than 2.5 percent of the continent´s GDP.”
Private capital is flowing, with major US-based investment and equity firms Carlyle and KKR setting up shop in Africa, while several countries now finance themselves fully on the market.
And without losing sight of the need to fight poverty and develop infrastructure, the new ADB chief must plan to manage the continent´s financial attractiveness.
Nigeria´s Adesina told AFP in late March that he wanted to “finish off the white elephants”, in a reference to useless luxury projects that are often financed using international aid and built by foreign businessmen, and which reek of corruption.
He called for “intelligent infrastructure that is more productive, more competitive”.
He also urged more cooperation across borders, pitching ideas such as an “African Google”, a transnational electricity market, and a regional stock exchange.
Mali´s Sidibe told AFP he wants to “pull the bank out of its comfort zone”. The ADB should act as a “financial catalyst”, not just as a lender.
Cape Verde´s Duarte shares a similar vision. If chosen, she wants to turn the ADB into an “innovative, creative bank that responds to the specific needs of African countries and their private sectors”.
The winning candidate needs to secure a majority of votes from both bank members and African states.