AfDB Group President Akinwumi Adesina concludes Friday, a five-day visit to three Southern African countries – Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa – where he pledged support for the countries’ energy, agriculture and infrastructure sectors, among others.

On Friday, the Bank announced a relief package of US $549 million in support of 14 countries most affected by the ongoing drought in Eastern and Southern Africa.

AfDB President pledged to increase financial support to Mozambiqu

The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, on Monday, April 5, 2016 had a one-day visit in Maputo, Mozambique, where he reaffirmed the commitment of the Bank to continue to support the growing Mozambican economy. 

Leading a team of senior Bank staff, Adesina had a joint meeting with the Minister of Economy and Finance and Governor of the Bank Group, Adriano Maleiane; Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, Pedro Couto; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Jose Pacheco; as well as the Governor of the Bank of Mozambique and AfDB Alternate Governor, Ernesto Gove; and the Chairman of the electricity utility company (EDM), Mateus Magala. 

“We are in a process of revitalizing our economy and we focus on the following priority areas: agriculture, energy and infrastructure. We need a lot of investments and AfDB has a lot to give,” the Minister of Economy and Finance said. 

The Bank’s “High 5s”, five priorities of development, respond to this request. “I’m very keen to tell you that we will increase the allocation of funds in the field of energy. We will give maximum support to Mozambique for the energy sector,” the AfDB President said. 

The AfDB plans to create an energy sector fund of US $12 billion over the next five years; and further mobilize about US $50 billion from the private sector, to ensure universal access to electricity in Africa by 2025. 

“The Bank also plans to establish transformative partnerships for agriculture with the common goal of feeding Africa,” Adesina added. With regard to infrastructure, he has encouraged the development of regional projects and transnational roads. 

Adesina was also received by President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi. The Bank President applauded his efforts to increase the country’s economy and pledged to substantially increase the financial support of the Bank to the country, and to assist in the following areas: job creation for young people and the fight against floods and drought.

Since the beginning of its operations in Mozambique in 1977, the AfDB Group has contributed approximately US $2 billion for 95 operations. These funds were allocated essentially to the transport, energy, agriculture sectors in addition to general budget support. 

The current portfolio of the AfDB in Mozambique consists of 19 projects both in the public and the private sectors totaling more than $600 million.

AfDB President Adesina pledges support to Malawi and urges sustained reforms

The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 began a two-day visit in Blantyre, Malawi, where he has pledged to continue supporting Malawi’s efforts to diversify its economy, achieve sustainable growth and reduce poverty. 

Leading a team of senior Bank staff, Akinwima Adesina was received by Malawi President Arthur Peter Mutharika and his Government. 

“As African leaders, we recognize the role the Bank plays in our economies, particularly in breaking the circle of food insecurity, and in the development of infrastructure and the private sector. In Malawi, we try to find long-term solutions for food security and private sector development. We know that we can succeed with the support of institutions like the African Development Bank,” Mutharika declared. 

The AfDB President assured him that the Bank remains committed to the long-standing partnership with a shared objective of improving the lives of Malawians through social and economic transformation. 

“We are here because we want to fully support you to meet the challenges facing the country. The Bank will increase its support in energy, agriculture, infrastructure, regional integration,” Adesina said. “We need to transform agriculture in Malawi and get young people into agriculture,” he added. 

Adesina also noted with concern two major challenges facing Malawi: the difficult macro-economic situation – manifested in high inflation and slow growth – which has been compounded by the severe food shortage arising from weather shocks. However he commended the Government for its tenacity in tackling the challenges under difficult circumstances and for the remarkable reform efforts and bringing the International Monetary Fund Extended Credit Facility programme back on track. 

He announced an AfDB’s drought response package of US $35 million for Malawi, of which US $1 million will be put towards immediate assistance and US $7 million for fast response, with the remaining amount for projects to deal with food insecurity in Malawi. 

The President encouraged the Malawi Government to sustain the reform effort, particularly in fiscal policy and public financial management to restore macroeconomic stability and instill private-sector confidence. He reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to assist Malawi to build resilience and achieve sustainable development through support for irrigation and other key national and regional infrastructure developments in energy and transport that are also key for private sector development and unlocking Malawi’s large potential. 

Since assuming the Presidency of the Bank, Akinwumi Adesina has spearheaded actions by the institution to drive inclusive and green growth for Africa in areas of high impact, building strategic partnerships and mobilizing resources to scale up initiatives and operations on the continent, sharply focusing its work on five top priorities, the “High 5s”: Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Integrate Africa, Industrialize Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. 

President Adesina noted that in Malawi, like the rest of Africa, less than 20 percent of the population has access to electricity, adding that Africa is simply tired of being in the dark. Therefore the African Development Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa aims to accelerate access to energy by 2025 and plans to invest over US $12 billion in the energy sector. It hopes to leverage US $40-50 billion in the energy sector in the next five years. 

This was the AfDB’s President first visit to Malawi since assuming office on September 1, 2015. 

Since 1969, the AfDB has financed more than 100 operations in Malawi to the tune of over US $1.2 billion. Its current portfolio comprises a total commitment value of US $310 million, with the infrastructure sector, including transport, water and energy, accounting for 60% of total commitments.

AfDB Group announces US $549-million drought response package for Eastern and Southern Africa

African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President, Akinwumi Adesina, announced Friday a relief package of US $549 million in support of 14 countries most affected by the ongoing drought in Eastern and Southern Africa. The AfDB acknowledged the severe impact of the El Niño weather pattern that is associated with abnormally high temperatures and the worst drought the region has seen in decades, leaving almost 36 million people in need of food assistance.

The drought response package announced by the AfDB Group consists of US $5 million in emergency relief and US $361 million in short-to-long term support from various windows of the Bank’s financial instruments. This amount represents new financial resources. Also, the AfDB will put in place a mechanism that would ensure faster disbursements of funds in ongoing projects, which were designed to build the affected countries’ resilience to drought. This will make available an additional amount of US $183 million in 2016.  

Six countries are severely impacted and require immediate assistance from the Bank’s emergency resources. These include Ethiopia, Somalia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Swaziland. The Bank will provide to Mozambique US $1 million of emergency support in 2016 and a further US $14 million for a wider drought-related plan in 2017.

The AfDB Group President also noted that cycles of drought and floods are natural phenomena integral to tropical weather and climate systems. However, in recent years, droughts and floods have been occurring with increased severity, frequency and variability in many parts of the Africa. Currently, Eastern and Southern Africa are experiencing severe droughts that have disrupted crop and livestock production systems in about 14 countries. The increased frequency and severity of droughts is linked to global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions. Adesina also said that African agriculture is nearly 95 percent rain-fed – thus highly vulnerable to fluctuations in rainfall patterns. 

Noting the urgency for this response, President Adesina emphasized that there will be greater flexibility in the use of AfDB’s financial instruments, speeding up disbursements.