Africa Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka has tipped his successor on how to succeed in what he described as a “complex and merciless” job.

In his penultimate farewell to the 80 bank shareholders on Tuesday, a nostalgic Dr Kaberuka said his ten years had gone very quickly and advised his successor, who will be picked from a shortlist of eight, to have ‘fire in the belly.’

“It is the fire in the belly that will see you overcome the many inevitable moments of frustration,” Dr Kaberuka said in a speech during the bank’s annual general meeting that is going on in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

“It is a complex and merciless job, but very exciting. It is, in fact, not a job – but a mission,” Dr Kaberuka reflected on his ten years at the helm of the $30 billion a year lender.

In a speech punctuated by two quotes from Nelson Mandela – ‘There are many more hills to climb’ and ‘It looks impossible until it is done’ – he promised to help the successor settle quickly into the job.

“We are preparing a well-designed transition for your smooth landing and to allow you to hit the ground running,” he said.

The key challenges facing the continent, he said, were managing the demographic dynamics, natural resources and rapid internal migration; fighting inequalities and promoting inclusive societies and seizing the opportunity in the demographic dividend by building health systems and taking children to school.

“Indeed there are many mountains to climb. Success will depend upon what we do,” he concluded.

READ: Who will take Kaberuka's seat at the AfDB?

Dr Kaberuka took the reigns of AfDB in 2005 with a commanding mandate of 78 per cent from the shareholders. He soon identified lending to the infrastructure and private sector, economic integration, strengthening fragile states and knowledge leadership as key to the institution’s transformation of Africa.

As a result, lending across energy, transport, water and ICT reached $28 billion during his reign while that to the private sector grew tenfold to $2 billion.

He said more innovation was now needed to minimize the risk in infrastructure projects in order to attract private financiers, a goal that can be achieved, for instance, by deregulation in the energy sector.

More coordinated infrastructure financing is expected through the Africa50 initiative which has raised $700 million.

“Infrastructure is only the means to an end, which is more trade and services. I therefore hope that in the future progress can be made, especially on the non-tariff barriers,” Dr Kaberuka said.

For the bank to play a bigger role in Africa, Dr Kaberuka said it would have to maintain strong finances evident in its AAA rating and $9 billion in capital and reserves, continuously review its business model and addresses its weaknesses such as gender exclusion.

A statement on that weakness could be made if the shareholders pick Cristina Duarte of Cape Verde to succeed Dr Kaberuka, becoming the first woman and Portuguese speaker to lead the 51-year institution.

She is contesting for the position against Thomas Sakala of Zimbabwe, Akinwumi Adesina of Nigeria, and Birama Zidibe of Mali. Sufian Ahmed of Ethiopia, Samura Kamara of Sierra Leone and Jaloul Ayed of Tunisia complete the candidates’ list.