Ofori-Atta praises AFDB

Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has praised the African Development Bank’s comparative advantage, saying “Africa trusts the Bank”.

Mr Ofori-Atta made this statement when Governors representing the African Development Bank West Africa region held consultative meetings with the institution’s President and senior management in Abidjan on Monday, 25 February 2019 where they took stock of the Bank’s accelerated engagement in the region.

Three hundred and seventy transformative Bank projects valued at $11.3 billion between 2010-2017, in the region, are changing lives and making a difference, the governors noted.

This is the second annual consultative meeting, aimed at sharing views with the governors, after the first meetings in the history of the Bank was initiated by President of AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina in 2018.

“Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the governors are much closer to the Bank, and that you are integrally involved in the wider vision and direction, particularly as it pertains to the challenges and needs of your respective regions,” Mr Adesina said in his opening remarks.

“Today, I’m filled with hope. Hope because Africa is changing. Hope because across the continent, despite challenges, you can see a rising determination to turn things around,” he noted.

During the consultations, the governors urged for greater focus on women to close the gender gap, address climate change, and increase attention to development in fragile states.

The governors also highlighted the need for AfDB to be involved in global issues in order to influence and help shape the conversations around foreign investments.

Sierra Leone Minister of Finance Jacob Jusu Saffa, highlighted the need “to mobilise domestic funds and use our pension funds more efficiently.” These comments were echoed by Nigeria’s Finance Minister Mahmoud Isa-Dutse.

“Infrastructure is very critical. We hope the bank will continue to support and add value to our one government data platform,” Liberia’s Minister of Agriculture Mogana Flomo said.

Ministers from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Guinea Bissau called for increased support for institutional capacity building.

The governors, who are Finance or Economic Planning ministers in their respective countries, were taken through the Bank’s interventions and lendings over the past year in presentations by senior management. They included Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Director General, West Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office; Stella Kilonzo, Senior Director of the Africa Investment Forum; Timothy Turner, Group Chief Risk Office and Swazi B. Tshabalala, Vice President & Chief Finance Officer.