The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday began its annual meetings due to culminate in the election of a new president later this week, as the lender faces a reduction in the US’s financial commitment.
The bank, founded in 1964, is a major lender to economic development projects on the continent, with 81 member countries, 54 of which are in Africa.
It has helped build Africa’s largest wastewater treatment plant at Gabal el-Asfar in Egypt, contributed to the construction of a bridge between Senegal and Gambia and extended the port of Lome in Togo.0
The bank has also supported projects for sanitation in Lesotho and access to electricity in Kenya.
The AfDB draws most of its resources from subscriptions by member countries, borrowing on international markets as well as loan repayments and income.
Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina will hand over the reins as president after two five-year terms, during which the bank’s subscribed capital tripled to $318 billion.
“We have built a world-class financial institution that will continue to advance Africa’s position within a rapidly changing global development and geopolitical environment,” Adesina said at the opening ceremony in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan.
“The work of the bank has impacted the lives of 565 million people” over the past decade, he added.
The election to replace Adesina takes place on Thursday.
Five candidates are vying for the role: former economy ministers Amadou Hott of Senegal and Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania, Zambian economist Samuel Munzele Maimbo, South African Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala and Chad’s Abbas Mahamat Tolli, former AfDB vice-president and former governor of the Bank of Central African States.
The institution faces a major challenge as President Donald Trump plans to slash by half a billion dollars the US contribution to the AfDB’s development fund, which offers low-priced financing to the continent’s poor nations.
AFP
