African Development Bank President Adesina confident of 'very promising future' for continent

• Published date: 07 February 2019
• Publication title: Business and Financial Times

The Bank expects growth of 4% this year and 4.1% in 2020

'The future of our continent is looking very promising indeed,' African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) President Akinwumi Adesina declared in the opening words of his address to diplomats at a lunch organised today, Tuesday, in Abidjan.

Adesina referred to the Bank's recent flagship publication, the African Economic Outlook 2019 (https://bit.ly/2yXn4pr), which noted that the recovery in commodity prices is driving domestic demand and infrastructure investment, while real Africa's GDP continued to improve in 2018 to 4.1%. The Bank expects growth of 4% this year and 4.1% in 2020.

Economic opportunities in Africa are generating considerable interest globally. For example, the agreement in March 2018 establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create the largest free trade area in the world. The CFTA will provide an unprecedented framework with the capacity to increase trade by at least 100% in Africa.

'The African Development Bank is at the centre of the actions taken to ensure the success of the continental free-trade area. We have invested over one billion dollars to support the financing of trade in Africa,' Adesina said.

The Bank, whose triple-A rating with stable outlook has been reconfirmed by the four major global rating agencies, has also invested $1 billion in Afreximbank, including $650 million in credit lines for trade finance and $350 million in insurance.

The free movement of people on the continent is another important driver of development. 'We need to break down all barriers that impede the free movement of people across the continent, especially that of workers, because this is vital for promoting investment,' Adesina said.

In its report on intra-African investment (https://bit.ly/2zvCvYC), the African Development Bank emphasised the significant increase incross-border investments - $12 billion last year, up from $2 billion in 2010. Under the G20 Compact with Africa, the Bank has worked with the World Bank and the IMF to provide assistance to African countries, particularly to improve company regulations and the business environment.

'Africa will not develop through aid, but through investment', said Adesina. This is whythe African Development Bank, with its partners, launched the highly successful Africa Investment Forum (AIF) (https://AfricaInvestmentForum.com), in Johannesburg, South Africa...