Accra, Ghana – The African Development Bank (AfDB) is making significant strides in mobilizing financial resources to meet Africa’s growing development needs, according to Bank President Akinwumi Adesina.
Adesina addressed African leaders at the African Union’s (AU) Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in Accra, Ghana, highlighting recent achievements including a substantial general capital increase. The Board of Governors approved raising the Bank’s capital from $201 billion to $318 billion, solidifying its status as Africa’s only AAA-rated financial institution and bolstering its lending capacity.
This move comes alongside other innovative financial solutions. The AfDB partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank to develop a new model channeling International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights through multilateral development banks.
The Bank also broke new ground at the start of 2024 by launching a groundbreaking $750 million hybrid capital instrument, the first of its kind for a multilateral institution. “This creates a new asset class for global investors and will be leveraged to quadruple our lending capacity,” Adesina explained.
Furthermore, the Bank is leading efforts to ensure Africa’s natural wealth is factored into GDP calculations, providing a more accurate picture of the continent’s economic health.
On the food security front, the Bank is collaborating with the Africa Rice Center to launch a $650 million Regional West Africa Rice Development Program. This initiative aims to empower one million farmers across 15 countries and generate 53 million tons of rice, potentially achieving self-sufficiency in West Africa within five years.
Adesina emphasized the importance of political will, referencing the Bank’s successful Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program, which helped Ethiopia achieve wheat self-sufficiency in less than four years.
The Bank’s growing global reputation is another positive sign. Adesina noted their recent ranking as the world’s most transparent development financial institution by Publish What You Fund. This recognition adds to the Bank’s impressive track record, which includes expanding electricity access to over 20 million people in the past five years and partnering with the World Bank to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
The Bank’s flagship Desert to Power initiative, aiming to generate 10,000 megawatts of solar power for 250 million people across the Sahel region, is already delivering results. Adesina cited the $890 million Mauritania-Mali Power Interconnection Project as an example, increasing clean energy access for 2.7 million people.
Meanwhile, the African Union is also taking concrete steps towards financial stability and economic integration, critical aspects of Agenda 2063, the AU’s strategic framework for Africa’s economic transformation.
Ghanaian President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the meeting’s host, called for expedited action on these plans. The AU Chairperson, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, announced plans to raise $100 billion to support export-oriented businesses.
