Latest update March 13th, 2023 3:11 PM
Jun 23, 2022 Samuel Africa News, Business News 0
This year’s Annual General Meetings of the African Development Bank ADB took place in Accra, Ghana from May 23 to May 27 and it attracted about 3000 Delegates and attendees from Africa and beyond. The Meeting was declared Opened by President Nana Kufo Addo with the Theme Achieving Climate Resilience and adjust energy Transition in Africa” in line with the most pressing social issues confronting African Continent.
In his remarks at his 57th African Development Bank and 48th African Development Fund General Meetings, President Nana Akufo Addo noted that the event came at a critical period in history when Africa, like the rest of the world, is dealing with the twin effects of covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He commended the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwunmi Adeshina for his extraordinary vision, Passion, and leadership that has taken the bank to greater heights globally, according to him, it is gratifying that AFDB was ranked by the prestigious Global Finance Magazine as the best multilateral financial institution in the world in 2021. While the African Development Fund (ADF) was ranked by the Centre for Global Development in the U.S as the second best in the world among all concessional financial institutions in the same years.
However, the Ghanaian leader challenges the AFDB to prioritize five ma issues.
Dr. Nana Kufo-Ado stated that as a triple-a-rated financial institution with an active portfolio of 61 billion in more than one hundred and forty-two thousand (142,000), the AFDB is in a position to drive the sustained transformation of Africa. He believes that the choice of Ghana to host the meetings has everything to do with the special place Ghana holds as a beacon of stable, democratic governance in Africa as well as the proverbial warm hospitality of the Ghanaian people. On his part the 8th President of the African Development Bank.
Dr. Akinwunmi Adeshina of Nigeria dwelt extensively on global climate change and Africa, and the various strategies landed by Africa, Development Bank to address the food problem confronting African countries. Excerpts of his keynote address are reproduced below: The Theme of Our Annulet Meeting: Achieving Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition for African” is all About People. Africa is the least emitter of climate in the world, accounting for only 4% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, the content suffers disproportionately from the negative impacts of climate change, including increased frequency and intensity of droughts, cyclones, and floods, compounded by desertification. Africa suffers $7-15 billion per year in losses to climate change, which are projected to rise to $40 billion years by 2030 Africa has no choice but to adapt to climate change to support the continent in doing so, the African Development Bank has doubled its financing for the climate to $25 billion by 2025.
Without any doubt, the African Development Bank is the leader in climate adaptation the highest among all multilateral development Banks. Your Excellencies, the Bank, and the Global Center on Adaptation is implementing the Africa Adaptation acceleration Program (AAA-P), with the goal of mobilizing $25 Billion in climate adaptation financing for Africa. The Bank is also supporting countries to insure themselves against extreme weather events, through its Africa Disaster Risk Insurance facility. Today the facility is helping nine countries to pay for insurance premiums to protect themselves from the effects of climate change. We need more financing to insure many more low-income countries. The Bank is leading in securing Africa’s food supplies in the face of climate change. Six years ago, I launch the Feed Africa Strategy of the Bank. Our goal was to deliver climate-resilient agricultural technologies at scale to farmers, and feed Arica. Our Feed Africa work has already benefitted over 76 million farmers with access to improved agricultural technologies. Our Flagship Program, Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) has delivered climate-smart seeds to 12 million farmers in 27 countries in just two years. We are helping farmers to beat climate change. TAAT delivered water-efficient maize to 5.6 million households in East Africa, an area hit by severe droughts there years ago.
In Sudan, TAAT financed the provision of 65,000 metric tons for heat-tolerant wheat varieties. That is seeds enough to fill 665 Airbus 380 aircraft, the largest passenger airplanes, Sudanese farmers grew the varieties on 187,000 hectares, and in just two years Sudan reduced its wheat import by 50%. We did the same in Ethiopia TAAT financed the provision of 45,000 metric tons of seeds of heat tolerant wheat varieties to farmers in Ethiopia. The farmers cultivated 5,000 hectares of these heat tolerance wheat varieties in 2018, expanded to 167,000 hectares, two years later, and by this year they had grown 400,000 hectares. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia told me last week. “Ethiopia’s wheat production is now on 650,000 hectares, to tackle the looming food crisis in Africa from the Russian war in Ukraine, the African Development Bank and the African union commission developed an African Emergency food production plan. The $1.5 billion plan will be used to support African Countries to produce food rapidly. The plan will produce 38 million Metric tons of food, including wheat, maize, rice, and soybeans. The total value of the additional food production is $12 Billion.
I am delighted that the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Approved the $1.5 Billion Africa Emergency Food Production Facility last Friday, May 20th, 2022. This follows a global convening by the Bank, in partnership with the African Union Commission, of African Ministers of Agriculture, the Africa development finance institutions, UN agencies, developed countries around the world, and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
We all agreed it is time to support Africa to produce its food, it is time to have food sovereignty, Food aid cannot feed Africa, Africa does not need bowls in hand, Africa needs seeds in the ground and mechanical harvesters to harvest bountiful food products locally, Africa must feed itself with pride. There is no dignity in Begging for food. The highlight of the AFDB Annual General Meetings is the celebration of 50 Years Anniversary of the African Development Fund ITDF, the concessional lending institution of the African Development Bank Group ADF has provided over 45 billion US dollars in Support of the African counter Development agenda of middle income, countries, low-income countries and fragile states. According to the president of the Africa Development Bank, ADF was ranked by the Washington D.C based center for global Development as the second best concessional financial institution in the world in terms of development effectiveness, a head of IDA of the World Bank, and an ll28 concessional funeral institution in developed countries.
The African Development Bank Group comprises the African Development Bank, ADB, African Development Fund ADF, and the Nigeria Trust Fund NTF, which was established by the Government of Nigeria in February 1976 with an initial capital of 80 billion dollars, to assist the development effort of the poorer ADV members.
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