Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, hosted the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) from Monday to Friday. Sputnik Africa outlined some of the main results and topics discussed during the five-day event.
This year, there has been a strong focus on prioritizing reform of the global financial architecture to address climate-related challenges.
The AfDB asserted that African nations should secure a yearly sum of $213 billion from the private sector in order to close the climate funding deficit by 2030. This is a top goal for the bank's president, Akinwumi Adesina.
"I think it's very important that we realize that the world we are in, we are custodians of it, not for ourselves, but for the future generation that are coming. And that future generation, they're already here. We have 477 million Africans, young people below the age of 35 [...]. We have to make sure that we are able to build climate resilience for Africa. We also have to make sure that we make the young people part of the solution, not just people that are dependent on others," Adesina was quoted as saying.
Therefore, reportedly added Adesina, the AfDB has implemented a program that provides assistance to young entrepreneurs in setting up businesses focused on climate adaptation and climate mitigation.
Capital Increase
The highest decision-making body of the AfBD has called on its governors to engage in in-depth talks about the increase of the bank's callable capital, which is crucial for maintaining its triple-A rating. A credit rating is a necessary condition for obtaining loans in the financial markets.
Kenyan President William Ruto echoed the call and declared that the government will allocate $100 million over the next three years to augment its ownership in the African Development Bank, Afreximbank, and Trade Development Bank. He also pledged to invest $20 million in the African Development Fund.
Furthermore, Ruto advocated for a reassessment of the GDP of African nations, taking into account their resources.
New Strategy Plan
The African Development Bank Group also introduced its new 10-Year Strategy for the period of 2024–2033. The 90-page document serves as a comprehensive plan to address the urgent issues facing Africa and to facilitate the continent's return to a path of consistent economic development and prosperity.
The strategy includes two strategic goals: "accelerating inclusive green growth" and "driving prosperous and resilient economies," as the bank noted.
The Bank's main contribution to the realization of this vision and mission is its "High 5 operational priorities":
Achieving universal access to electricity through the clean energy revolution;
Strengthening food security through transforming African agriculture;
Active industrialization of all African regions by 2033;
Promoting the free movement of goods, finance and people, creating regional value chains as the basis for a more productive African economy, and boosting industrialization;
Improvement of Africans's quality of life, especially that of women and young people.
Debt Management
Debt burden, insufficient regional integration, a lack of competition between businesses, and insufficient economic diversification could lead to a "lost decade for development in Africa" (2024-2034), according to Albert Muchanga, Trade and Industry Commissioner at the African Union Commission.
The issue of reforming the G20 Common Framework on debt restructuring has become one of the key topics. Some participants called for a more coordinated and transparent approach with clearer boundaries between borrowers and lenders.
Participants also recognized the importance of the legal framework for structuring debt and ensuring efficient use of debt at the national level and discussed ideas for providing affordable finance to support countries' development and optimize balance sheets.