Adebayo Adedeji

Adebayo Adedeji was a Nigerian economist and academic who had a distinguished career in service to Africa. He was a full-fledged professor at the age of 36 and served as Nigeria's Federal Commissioner for Economic Development and Reconstruction from 1971 to 1975. He was responsible for the economic development and reconstruction of post-civil war Nigeria and played a proactive role in the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In 1975, he joined the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) as the Executive Secretary and was promoted to the rank of Under-Secretary-General in 1978. He held this position until 1991, when he resigned to return to Nigeria. Under his leadership, the ECA tackled the challenges of a new international economic order for Africa and adopted landmark policies such as the Lagos Plan of Action, which was a blueprint for African economic integration and development. He also worked to correct the adverse impacts of structural adjustment programs on African economies, offering an alternative framework known as the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programs for Socio-Economic Recovery and Transformation (AAF-SAP). He led the establishment of the regional economic communities, such as ECOWAS, and drew up the African Charter for Popular Participation, which advocated for the involvement of civil society in development processes. He also pushed for the proclamation of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) by the UN General Assembly. After his resignation from the UN, he founded the African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (ACDESS), a non-governmental think-tank dedicated to multi-disciplinary and strategic studies on and for Africa. He created a viable and sustainable centre for future studies and continued to dedicate himself to the struggle for an Africa that is an integral and respected partner of the world community. In the mid-2000s, before retiring, his last major contributions for Africa were reflected through his role as a founding member of the Africa Forum of Former Heads of State and Heads of International Organizations and through his role as the Chairperson of the African Peer Review Mechanism's Panel of Eminent Persons (APRM). He received the national honor of Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the HLF Life-Time Achievement Award for Nigeria's Most Outstanding International Economic Icon. He was also elected a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. He died in 2018 after suffering from a long illness.