Adesina marks new milestones for the impending leadership figure
The African Development Bank (AfDB) showcased its impressive growth and impact in a decade, with capital tripling since 2015, according to President Akinwumi Adesina. Speaking at the AfDB's annual meetings in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Adesina revealed that the bank's capital expanded from $93 billion in 2015 to an impressive $318 billion currently.
This surge in capital enabled the bank to provide unprecedented financial support to African countries. Over the past ten years, the AfDB has approved a staggering total of $102 billion in investments, representing 46% of all approvals in the bank's 61-year history. The total amount distributed in this period reached $59 billion, nearly half of the bank's total disbursements.
Adesina emphasized that this growth placed the AfDB among the world's major financial institutions and transformed it into a "people-centered bank" and a "development solutions bank for Africa." By doing so, it has created conditions for African countries to withstand the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and food crises resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres commended the AfDB's role in a video message sent to the ceremony. Notable projects supported by the bank include the construction of one of the world's largest solar power plants in Morocco, capable of powering over a million homes, and a wastewater treatment system in Egypt, serving 12 million people.
The universalization of electricity access across the continent is the bank's next goal. The bank's expansion comes as it prepares to elect a new president, with five candidates, including Bajabulile Tshabalala, the only woman among the contenders and Adesina's current vice-president, vying for the position. Côte d'Ivoire's President Alassane Ouattara underscored the high stakes for the next president.
The debates during the annual meetings will focus on maximizing Africa's human capital to promote its development, along with cross-cutting issues such as digital transformation, institutional strengthening, and good governance. The bank aims to identify opportunities and develop specific policies to make African capital, consisting of human, natural, financial, and commercial resources, the main driver of structural transformation and transition to more inclusive, greener, and more resilient economies in the coming decades.
The AfDB expects this formula will help "leverage external capital flows from various partnerships to complement Africa's development financing needs." The AfDB is the continent's primary development financing institution, with 81 member states, including 53 African nations and 28 non-African states like Portugal and Brazil. African countries with Portuguese as an official language, such as Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe, are participating in the annual meetings with various delegations.
What is the AfDB's objective for the next period as it prepares to elect a new president? It aims to maximize Africa's human capital to promote its development and identify opportunities to leverage external capital flows from various partnerships to complement Africa's development financing needs in the realm of investing and finance, particularly in business.
