African Development Bank marks 60th year with $300 billion capital

September 12, 2024 in Finance, Financial Services by Editor

Adesina paid tribute to the Bank’s achievements since its inception in Abidjan in 1964. He celebrated how the Bank has supported over 6,575 projects across the continent and how in the past 10 years alone it has invested $77 billion across 3,000 projects to become Africa’s most trusted development partner.

This week, the Abidjan-based African Development Bank (AfDB), marked its 60^th anniversary after shareholders raised the bank’s total capital base to $318 billion in May.

Alassane Ouattara, the President of Cote d’Ivoire led the celebrations. He said, “This is an historic milestone and a cause for celebration, but it is also an opportunity to see that the African Development Bank has financed some pivotal infrastructure and helped improve the living conditions of millions of Africans. The Bank is a source of pride and hope for Africa.”

The head of AfDB Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina took the opportunity to praise President Ouattara as “a pillar of extraordinary support”. Adesina paid tribute to the Bank’s achievements since its inception in Abidjan in 1964. He celebrated how the Bank has supported over 6,575 projects across the continent and how in the past 10 years alone it has invested $77 billion across 3,000 projects to become Africa’s most trusted development partner.

Adesina thanked President Ouattara for hosting the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan and for his strong support. He described how in 2019 President Ouattara helped the Bank secure a general capital increase of $115 billion – the largest increase in the Bank’s history.

Referring to the current capital base of $318 billion, he said: “This provides the firepower to do more for Africa. We are today a bigger, bolder and better bank better positioned to meet Africa’s future needs and challenges, to fast-track Africa’s development.”

“Following my election as President in 2015, during my first term, I made a case for a stronger bank with financial resources to help implement and scale up our High 5s: To light up and power Africa; To feed Africa; To industrialize Africa; To integrate Africa; To improve the quality of life of the people of Africa,” Adesina said.

He said, “In the past nine years, we have provided over $55 billion in support of infrastructure, from energy to roads, corridors, seaports, airports, rail, digital infrastructure, water and sanitation. Today, the Bank is the largest multilateral financier of infrastructure in Africa.”

Adesina said during the last eight years the Bank’s work has impacted the lives of over 400 million people across Africa. He described how 52 percent of Africans now have access to electricity compared to 25 pc in 2016 and how the $20 billion desert-to-power project in the Sahel will help deliver 10,000 megawatts of electricity for 250 million people across the 11 countries.

He also celebrated the Bank’s mobilisation of $72 billion to help unlock Africa’s agricultural potential at the Feed Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal, and its work to support Africa’s efforts to cope with climate change, mobilising $25 billion through its Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme and $14 billion through its Climate Action window.