African Development Bank’s Board approves landmark institution: Establishment of African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation to transform Africa’s pharmaceutical industry
The African Development Bank’s Board of Directors has approved the establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, a new groundbreaking institution that will significantly enhance Africa’s access to the technologies that underpin the manufacture of medicines, vaccines, and other pharmaceutical products.
African Development Bank Group President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said: “This is a great development for Africa. Africa must have a health defense system, which must include three major areas: revamping Africa’s pharmaceutical industry, building Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity, and building Africa’s quality healthcare infrastructure.”
During the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa in February 2022, the continent’s leaders called on the African Development Bank to facilitate the establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation. Adesina, who presented the case for the institution to the African Union said: “Africa can no longer outsource the healthcare security of its 1.3 billion citizens to the benevolence of others.” With this bold initiative, the African Development Bank has made good on that commitment.
Burkina Faso : plus de dix mille nouvelles entreprises enregistrées grâce à un projet soutenu par la Banque africaine de développement
Le Projet d’appui à la transformation de l’économie et la création de l’emploi, mis en œuvre au Burkina Faso, entre 2014 et 2021, a permis d’augmenter l’enregistrement de nouvelles entreprises. Les nouvelles entreprises enregistrées sont passées de 1 021 en 2014 à 13 500 en 2021, grâce notamment à l'appui du projet aux Centres de gestion agréés de Ouagadougou et de Bobo-Dioulasso dans la sensibilisation sur l’importance de la formalisation des entreprises.
Le projet a été financé pour 11,2 millions de dollars américains par le Groupe de la Banque africaine de développement. Le but du projet était de consolider les institutions de promotion du secteur privé et de promouvoir la transformation structurelle de l’économie en instaurant un lien entre le renforcement des capacités professionnelles et le renforcement des capacités des institutions d’appui au secteur privé.
African Development Bank to launch public financial management academy to build capacity in African countries
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank on Wednesday approved the creation of a virtual academy to build public financial management capacity in African countries. Countries will receive technical assistance through structured, targeted, dedicated and local training as well as through policy dialogue.
The academy, hosted within the African Development Institute of the African Development Bank Group, will deepen partnership with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and African countries to improve public financial management practices in Africa. Other implementing partners include key regional public financial management institutions, regional technical assistance centers, universities, and national public administration training institutes.
The training, technical assistance and policy dialogue delivered by the academy will cover upstream and downstream issues in the public financial management cycle, tailored to the specific needs of African countries.
Malawi: African Development Bank gives financial sector a boost with new tools to support local corporates, SMEs and domestic trade
Members of the African Development Bank Group’s Financial Sector Development Department (trade finance division) have concluded a successful visit to Malawi aimed at strengthening engagement with the private sector and leading financial institutions.
The team, led by the Bank’s Country Manager for Malawi, Macmillan Anyanwu, engaged with senior executives of several local financial institutions in Lilongwe and Blantyre to establish points of entry for the Bank to support Malawi’s financial sector. Bleming Nekati, Chief Trade Finance Office; Jonathan Banda, Investment Officer; and Samson Kasuka, Senior Trade Finance Officer, made up the rest of the delegation.
African Development Bank Group launches dedicated trust fund for circular economy
The African Development Bank Group today launched its first Africa Circular Economy Facility during its 2022 Annual Meetings. The circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible.
The Bank Group’s Board of Directors approved the facility on 30 March. As a trust fund, it will channel finance and de-risk innovative circular economy business models beyond waste management. It will support the country-led African Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA) in integrating the circular economy into African green growth strategies.
The multi-donor trust fund will operate over a five-year period. It will receive initial support of €4 million from the Government of Finland and the Nordic Development Fund.
African Development Bank Group Governors endorse the bank’s vision for the next 10 years
The African Development Bank Group has concluded five days of annual meetings in Accra, Ghana on Friday with a rallying cry from its President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, to be proud of Africa’s progress.
He told delegates at a spectacular closing ceremony at the end of the Bank Group’s Annual Meetings that they were all what he called “partners in hope who shared a passion for the continent and who should celebrate Africa’s successes.”
Ghanaian Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia represented President Nana Akufo-Addo at the closing ceremony. With him were Finance Minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta, the outgoing Chair of the Bank Group’s Board of Governors.
Africa Investment Forum showcases major projects, including $15.6 billion Abidjan-Lagos Highway
On the margins of the African Development Bank Group’s 2022 Annual Meetings, the Africa Investment Forum convened investors to promote the power of the platform to draw critical investment to the continent.
The investor roundtable on 25 May came at a time when capital flows are in flux in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Such discussions are integral to the Africa Investment Forum, connecting project sponsors, investors, and financiers, as well as the public and the private sector.
Within the context of this year’s Annual Meetings theme: Achieving Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition for Africa, the interactive dialogue highlighted several flagship projects that define the AIF platform’s unrivaled convening capacity. The drawcard of the Annual Meetings added to the appeal of the event. The Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group usually draws around 3,000 government leaders, policymakers and other decision makers.
Ghana signs grant agreement with African Development Fund, government of Switzerland, to support development of mini-grids and solar PV net metering
The government of Ghana has signed a grant agreement with the African Development Fund, and a financing agreement with the government of Switzerland, for the Ghana Mini Grid and Solar Photovoltaic Net Metering project. The project will benefit schools, health centres and communities across the country.
The agreements, for the development of 35 mini-grids and stand-alone solar PV systems, were signed on Wednesday 25 May at a short ceremony held on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Group’s 2022 Annual Meetings. They were signed by Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, chairman of the board of governors of the African Development Bank Group, Ambassador Dominique Paravicini, the African Development Bank Group’s governor for Switzerland and Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, president of the African Development Bank.
The post Covid-19 era has highlighted the importance of reliable energy services. The project will support Ghana’s Covid-19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Support (Ghana CARES) program, which identifies the energy sector as an enabler of economic transformation.
African Economic Outlook 2022: Africa’s 2021 economic rebound impacted by lingering Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war
Africa’s gross domestic product has recovered strongly in the last year, but the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing war could pose considerable challenges in the medium term. This is according to the 2022 African Economic Outlook, released by the African Development Bank on Wednesday.
Africa’s gross domestic product grew by an estimated 6.9% in 2021. This is after the continent suffered a pandemic-induced contraction of 1.6% in 2020, says the Bank’s flagship publication.
Rising oil prices and global demand have generally helped improve Africa’s macroeconomic fundamentals, the report found. But growth could decelerate to 4.1% in 2022, and remain stuck there in 2023, because of the lingering pandemic and inflationary pressures caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. Both countries are major grain suppliers to Africa.
African Development Bank, MASEN and RES4africa to co-organise training programme for Sahel countries
The African Development Bank, MASEN and RES4Africa have agreed to join forces on a dedicated solar energy training programme in 2022, to foster the uptake of solar energy in five Sahel countries.
The programme, to be conducted in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, will focus on energy professionals and policy makers from the target countries, and proposes a first stage institutional training course in June- July, followed by a vocational mini-grid focused training course in September-October.
Dr. Daniel Schroth, Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of the African Development Bank, announced the move during the RES4Africa Annual Conference and 10th Anniversary(link is external).