Opening Speech by Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group, at the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, June 12, 2019
2019.06.12.
African Development Bank Group
Your Excellency, President OBIANG NGUEMA MBASAGO of Equatorial Guinea….
I welcome you to the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group. This annual event is always a unique opportunity to share with you the Bank’s perspectives on the state of Africa’s economy, provide updates on the Bank’s work and exchange views on emerging issues shaping the future of the continent.
The Theme for this year’s annual meeting is Regional Integration. Three years ago in Zambia, the focus of our Annual Meetings was Light up and Power Africa. Two years ago, in India, our focus was on Feed Africa. And last year, in South Korea, the focus of our Annual Meetings was Industrialize Africa. This year, we chose to focus on Integrate Africa, our fourth High 5.
Regional integration is crucial for Africa’s accelerated development. We must connect landlocked countries to ports. We must allow free movement of people. Investors must be able to invest beyond the borders of countries. And Africa must trade more with itself.
Apart and divided, Africa is weakened. Together and united, Africa will be unstoppable!
Today, a climate-resilient Africa is now urgent, more than ever before, as we all witnessed during the recent devastation caused by cyclones in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. The African Development Bank rallied support behind these countries, by providing immediate disaster relief. And just last week, our Board of Directors approved $100 million in funding to support their rebuilding efforts. The global community must support Africa to adapt to climate change and ensure resilient economies, for a greater future.
And the future of the African continent is getting brighter. The 2019 African Economic Outlook of the African Development Bank shows general economic performance has continued to recover. Growth is projected at 4% in 2019 and 4.1% in 2020. This is a strong momentum, from the growth of only 2.1% posted as recently as 2016.
To integrate Africa, we should bring down all the walls! The free movement of people, and especially labor mobility, are crucial for promoting investments.
To accelerate investments and mobilize greater resources for Africa, the African Development Bank, together with its partners, launched the Africa Investment Forum held for the first time last year in Johannesburg, South Africa. The event attracted over 2000 participants and investors from 53 countries around the world, including pension and sovereign wealth funds. The results were amazing: investment commitments worth $38.7 billion were mobilized in less than 72 hours!
And we are only just getting started! The 2019 Africa Investment Forum will hold in Johannesburg from 11-13 November, so please mark your calendars!
To help Africa win more, we are positioning the Bank very well to meet the challenges ahead. I am pleased to report that since we last met in Busan, a lot has happened at the Bank. The AAA rating of the Bank was again maintained, as it has been for the past three years. Our loans to countries have expanded, and so have our disbursements.
And it’s not just about money. It’s all about development impact. In the past three years, the Bank has steadily delivered significant impacts: it has connected about 16 million people to access electricity; 70 million people with access to agricultural technologies to achieve food security; 9 million with access to finance from private sector companies; 57 million with access to improved transport; and 31 million people with access to improved water and sanitation services.
As Africa’s Bank, we will continue to push for greater results, more development and better quality of life for Africans.
That’s why the Bank is seeking your strong support for the General Capital Increase of the African Development Bank and replenishment of the African Development Fund. We are grateful for the strong support you gave at the conclusion of the Third Governors’ Consultative Committee meeting yesterday on the 7th General Capital Increase for the Bank. And in July we will also meet with our donors for the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund.
As James Champy said “Big results require big ambitions”.
To develop Africa faster, African leaders are thinking big ? and they should
Africa should not think small!
Africa’s own Bank, the African Development Bank, should not think small!
And its shareholders should not think small for Africa!
It’s not about what you can afford for Africa,
It is about what Africa needs – and deserves!
Your Excellencies, Governors, distinguished ladies and gentlemen:
Africa needs you!
African integration needs you!
The complete speech is available at:
