Browsing: African Development Bank (ADB)

African Development Bank Group has approved two grants worth $83.6 million to boost cross-border trade in electricity between Ethiopia and Djibouti and to deepen integration in the Horn of Africa sub-region.

In a statement, the bank’s board said the funds comprise a $69.65 million grant to Ethiopia and a second grant of $13.93 million to Djibouti.

Both have been sourced from the African Development Fund, which is the African Development Bank’s concessional financing window.

The Ethiopia–Djibouti Second Power Interconnection project will entail the construction of nearly 300 km of interconnector line, 170 km of transmission lines, and new construction or renovation of substations in the two countries.

Commenting on the approval,  Bank’s Director of Power Systems Development Batchi Baldeh said the first interconnection line is reaching its power transfer capacity limit due to several developments in both countries, such as the industrial development in the eastern part of Ethiopia, the …

The Boards of Directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) Group on Friday approved a proposal for the clearance of about $413 million in arrears on loans owed by Sudan to the institution, marking a major milestone in the country’s re-engagement with international financial institutions and the global economy.

The proposal enables the Bank to proceed with clearing Sudan’s arrears with the African Development Bank Group, with the support of the United Kingdom and Sweden. The U.K will provide bridge financing to clear Sudan’s arrears to the African Development Fund, while Sweden has committed to providing grant financing of about $4.2 million to meet Sudan’s burden-share for the operation.

Upon full clearance of the arrears to the Bank group, sanctions on Sudan will be lifted and a Policy-Based Operation (PBO) will be provided to the country as part of the Bank’s full re-engagement, to complement on-going Bank operations.

Clearing of …

The African Development Bank’s Board of Directors approved $27.33 million in grants to help the African Union (AU)  to mobilize a continental response to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. (Canadian Pharmacy)

African Development Bank

This approval follows a pledge to support the AU’s COVID-19 initiative by the Bank’s president Akinwumi Adesina, during a meeting of the extended Bureau of the Conference of Heads of State and Government with Africa’s private sector in April 2020, chaired by the President of South Africa and chairperson of the AU, Cyril Ramaphosa.

The meeting called for contributions towards the African Union’s COVID-19 Response Fund established by Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat,  AU Commission chairperson in March 2020.

Speaking after the Board approval of this operation, President Adesina said: “With this financing package, we are reaffirming our strong commitment to a coordinated African response in the face of COVID-19. Most importantly, we are …

The African Development Bank has approved COVID-19 emergency funds to its member countries which have reached the continent’s five geographic regions.

The COVID-19 pandemic is seen to cause a drop in Africa’s gross domestic profits by between $22.1 billion and $88. Billion.

By June 12, the African Development emergency package had reached Africa’s five geographical regions.

Before the pandemic, West Africa was home to at least four of Africa’s fastest-growing economies and has felt the impact of the pandemic as borders remain cloAfrican Development emergency packageAfrican Development emergency packagesed economic distress deepens.

To bolster national health systems in response to the Pandemic, Mali, Niger and Gambia will benefit from an ECOWAS $22 million support package.

From the Emergency package, Nigeria got €288.5 million, Senegal €88 million, Côte d’Ivoire €75 million and Cabo Verde €30 million. (https://bluffsrehab.com)

Funds to this region will seek to address shortages in ventilators, personal …

The potential of the fourth industrial revolution in Africa report shows an African tech sector taking flight the report was funded by the African Development Bank.

The Technopolis Group carried out research and study of the report. The report was presented during a seminar hosted by the African Development Bank last week.

According to the report, in 2019, approximately 6,500 technology start-ups were identified in Africa, among which about 10% develop applications that characterize the fourth industrial revolution.

Francie Sadeski, partner and lead in emerging markets at Technopolis, said the foundation has been laid for the fourth industrial revolution.

“The figures exceed forecasts and indicate that the basis for Africa’s growth into the fourth industrial revolution is already there,” she said during a presentation on the report.

By 2019, the report notes that venture capital of more than $100 million was invested in African Internet of Things start-ups making it …

The African Development Bank urged development finance institutions, NGOs, farmer cooperatives and the private sector to come up with more effective financing solutions for Africa’s fertilizer value chains.

The Bank’s call came during the Argus Africa Fertilizer Conference held last week. The theme of the conference was Supporting the fertilizer value chain to improve agricultural productivity and economic growth in the region.

“Appropriate investment and financing of the entire fertilizer value chain has become a precondition for achieving our continental objectives in the area of agricultural development,” said Marie-Claire Kalihangabo, coordinator of the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism(AFFM), during a forum on the sidelines of the Conference.

AFFM is a Fund managed by the African Development Bank to accelerate agriculture development in line with the Bank’s High-5 priority, the Sustainable Development Goals, Africa Food Security Vision and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Also Read: “Nobody eats GDP” says African Development Bank

The African Economic Outlook 2020 report prepared by the African Development Bank was praised at the 33rd African Union Summit in Addis Ababa for being an effective blueprint for addressing Africa’s human capacity gap.

The 2020 report, under the theme Developing Africa’s workforce of the future, was presented at a side event attended by civil society, policymakers, global and regional development organizations, the media and academia.

“The facts mentioned in the second part of this report are striking. It reminds us of the size of the investment that must be made in the development of human capital in Africa, an essential component for achieving productive transformation,” said Victor Harison, the African Union Commissioner for Economic Affairs.

Also Read: African Economic Outlook indicates steady growth through 2021

The African Economic Outlook has become the blueprint for planning and for sound economic research about Africa said the Secretary-General of the African Development …

Provide young people with new skills that will meet the needs of a 21st-century labour market, African Development Bank report urges.

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said the youth must be prepared for the jobs of the future not the jobs of the past.

“Given the fast pace of change, driven by the 4th industrial revolution – from artificial intelligence to robotics, machine learning, quantum computing – Africa must invest more in re-directing and re-skilling its labour force, and especially the youth, to effectively participate,” the Bank president said.

Also Read: Ride the wave of the African Continental Free Trade Area, urges Adesina

According to the African Economic Outlook report, two-thirds of Africa’s youth are either overeducated or undereducated.

Youth unemployment is rising annually with 12 million graduates entering the labour market each year and only 3 million of them getting jobs therefore, youth unemployment must be given top …

Africa’s economies are growing strongly, but growth alone cannot meet the needs of the continent’s poorest citizens, because “nobody eats GDP,” said Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank during the 2020 African Economic Outlook.

According to the 2020 African Economic Outlook, Africa’s economies are growing well, higher than the global average. The report anticipated a steady rise in growth in Africa from 3.4% in 2019 to 3.9% in 2020 and 4.1% in 2021.

According to the report, these figures do not give all the details. Because across the continent, the poor are not seeing the benefits of strong growth. Comparatively, few African countries posted substantial declines in extreme poverty and inequality, which remain higher compared to other regions in the world.

The report also revealed only 18 of 48 African countries with data, had inclusive growth.

Also Read: African Development Bank approves $22m to Egypt

“Growth must …

Ride the wave of the African Continental Free Trade Area, African Development Bank (ADB) president Adesina Urged United Kingdom investors.

Speaking at the UK Parliamentary Symposium, Mr Adesina said Africa is on the cusp of unmatched economic transformation and the United Kingdom must engage in a partnership of change.

“The Africa of the 21st century is very different. The Africa of the 21st century is new and more confident,” he said
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Africa with the Royal African Society, Oxford Brookes University, and the Trade Justice Network organized the symposium under the theme UK-Africa Trade and Brexit.

Adesina said that Africa and the United Kingdom should be significant trading partners. “The reality, however, is that UK’s trade with Africa is trending downwards. From a billion peak in 2012, trade decreased to . (kathybroock.com) 6 billion in 2018,” he noted.

Also Read: AfDB president woos UK