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"The future of our continent promises to be very promising," said African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina in an opening speech delivered to diplomats at the end of the year. a lunch organized in Abidjan.
Adesina cited the Bank's recent flagship publication, African Economic Outlook 2019, which indicated that the recovery in commodity prices was boosting domestic demand and infrastructure investment, while Africa's real GDP continued to grow. improve in 2014 to reach 4.1%.
The Bank expects growth of 4% this year and 4.1% in 2020.
Economic opportunities in Africa are attracting considerable interest around the world. For example, the March 2018 agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create the largest free trade area in the world. The ETLS will provide an unprecedented framework to increase trade by at least 100% in Africa.
"The African Development Bank is at the center of the actions undertaken to ensure the success of the Continental Free Trade Area.We have invested more than a billion dollars to support trade finance in Africa," Adesina said. .
The bank, whose triple A rating with a stable outlook has been reconfirmed by the four major global rating agencies, has also invested USD 1 billion in Afreximbank, including USD 650 million in trade finance lines of credit and USD 350 million in insurance.
The free movement of people on the continent is another important driver of development.
"We must remove all the barriers that hinder the free movement of people across the continent, especially the workers, as this is essential for the promotion of investment," said Adesina.
In its report on intra-African investment, the African Development Bank highlighted the sharp increase in cross-border investment – $ 12 billion last year, up from $ 2 billion in 2010.
As part of the G20 Pact with Africa, the Bank has collaborated with the World Bank and the IMF to provide badistance to African countries, particularly to improve business regulation and the business environment.
"Africa will not grow thanks to help, but thanks to investments," said Adesina.
That is why the African Development Bank, together with its partners, launched last November in Johannesburg, South Africa, the very successful African Investment Forum (AIF), which enabled 49 worth more than $ 38 billion to invest in just two days.
The African Development Bank continues to invest in infrastructure to connect countries and improve their competitiveness.
It provided $ 16 million to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to prepare feasibility studies for the Lagos-Abidjan Corridor.
It has also financed 1,000 kilometers of road between Addis Ababa and Mombasa, which has multiplied by five the trade between Ethiopia and Kenya.
The Bank was the main lender for the construction of the historic bridge between Gambia and Senegal, inaugurated on January 21, 2019, between The Gambia and Senegal. The Bank's investment portfolio in Côte d'Ivoire has tripled in the last three years, reaching $ 1.8 billion in 2018.
The Bank plays a leading role in the "Technologies for Transforming African Agriculture" (TAAT) initiative, which aims to accelerate the diffusion of agricultural technologies across the continent, not only to improve yields, but also to combat the consequences of global warming and against pests, such as the fall legionnaire.
"The crucial point for Africa's economic development is that we must radically transform our agriculture," said Adesina.
The Bank's five key priorities are already producing significant impacts across the continent, "said the Bank's President.
In 2018, 4.5 million people were connected to electricity grids. Nearly 20 million more people have access to improved agricultural technologies.
Industrial investment in the private sector benefited 1.1 million people. Some 14 million people now have access to improved transport services, while another 8 million have improved access to water and sanitation.
These impacts encourage the Bank to redouble support for economic and social development in Africa.
"We need to achieve universal access to electricity, we need to help Africa become self-sufficient in food, we need to reach a fully integrated continent, we need to industrialize Africa and improve quality. of the life of its population, "concluded Adesina. .
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