Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Africa Achieves

A message from the President of the African Development Bank:



"The past decade has been one of unprecedented growth and development in Africa. As I travel across the continent, I see a new Africa emerging—one built on strong public institutions and dynamic private entrepreneurs. Even in difficult times, this Africa is achieving results that transform lives and ensure a better future for our children.





As the continent’s premier development finance institution, the African Development Bank contributes to achieving the ambitious goals of governments and their people. The African Development Bank, established in 1964, provides financing and technical knowledge to African countries for sustained economic progress towards a prosperous future. Through our commercial non-concessional window, the Bank provides loans to regional member countries to finance public sector operations in addition to financing for non-sovereign borrowers in support of private sector development, and through our soft concessionary window we support eligible low income countries through soft loans and grants.

Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, the Bank has responded to increased demand for financing by increasing our lending, which tripled over the last year. We have now embarked on a concerted and focused effort aimed at replenishing our resources and building support from our shareholders for an increase in our capital base.

Despite the challenges of the current economic landscape, our strategy is to focus on our comparative advantage to support Africa’s growth agenda: strengthening institutions for good governance, overcoming the continent’s infrastructure deficit, unleashing the potential of the private sector and matching the skills of the workforce to the jobs of tomorrow. We look beyond country borders to enhance integration within Africa, investing in regional networks and markets. Contributing to the reconstruction of fragile states is also part of our strategy as conflicts often have significant regional spillover effects."

Donald Kaberuka
President
African Development Bank