How many non regional member countries belong to the African Development Bank (AfDB)?

Introduction / Context:
The African Development Bank, often abbreviated as AfDB, is a regional multilateral development bank that supports economic and social progress in African countries. Its membership structure is important in general knowledge, because it shows how both African and non African countries participate in African development. This question focuses on the number of non regional members, meaning countries that are not from Africa but still hold shares in the Bank.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The institution is the African Development Bank.
• We are concerned specifically with the count of non regional member countries.
• Possible values are 24, 23, 25, 27 and 21.
• We assume knowledge of the broad membership pattern, where African members are regional and other states are non regional.

Concept / Approach:
The AfDB has two main categories of shareholders: regional member countries from Africa and non regional member countries from other parts of the world such as Europe, Asia and the Americas. In recent years, membership has stabilised at 81 countries in total, with 54 African and 27 non regional members. The approach is to recall this breakdown or eliminate numbers that are inconsistent with the known total membership.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall or note that the African Development Bank has 81 member countries. Step 2: Remember that 54 of these are regional member countries from the African continent. Step 3: Subtract the regional members from the total: 81 minus 54 equals 27, which gives the count of non regional members. Step 4: Compare this number with the options. Only option D shows 27 non regional members. Step 5: Therefore, the correct answer is 27.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can quickly verify the figure by checking standard descriptions of the AfDB, which emphasise that the Bank has 54 African regional members and 27 non regional member countries from other regions of the world. This total of 81 members is widely quoted in exam oriented study material and official AfDB summaries. The same numbers also align with the shareholding structure where regional and non regional members together control the Bank's capital.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, 24, is wrong because it would imply a total membership of 78 if combined with 54 regional states, which does not match the standard 81 member figure.

Option B, 23, is wrong because it would give only 77 members in total, again inconsistent with the known membership count.

Option C, 25, is wrong for similar reasons, producing a total of 79 members rather than 81.

Option E, 21, is clearly too low to account for the many non African donors and partners that participate in the AfDB.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent pitfall is to remember the total membership but forget the exact split between regional and non regional members. Another error is to confuse the AfDB with other regional banks such as the Asian Development Bank, which have different membership structures. To avoid confusion, remember the simple pattern for AfDB: 54 African regional members and 27 non regional members, giving 81 in total.

Final Answer:
There are 27 non regional member countries in the African Development Bank.