The African Development Bank Archives

13Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African Banking innovation sees AfDB approving multi-currency line of credit of USD 300m

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa The African Development Bank has extended the equivalent of USD 300 million to FirstRand Bank Limited to support projects across Africa This week an announcement from Tunis, Tunisia, revealed that the African Development Bank has approved a seven-year multi-currency line of credit for an amount equivalent to USD 300 million to FirstRand Bank Limited (FRB) of South Africa to finance a wide range of projects in local currencies and across Africa. And most African countries are characterized by low discretionary rates of domestic savings. As a result, the intermediation capacity of the financial sectors is limited, leading to the gap currently being filled with borrowings denominated in foreign currency. However, this introduces a currency mismatch in the fi...

12Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

Former President of the African Development Bank Babacar Ndiaye to lead Investment Day at this year’s AgriBusiness Forum.

African expert calls on everyone involved in agriculture to step up to the fore for the sake of the entire continent’s development and in the fight against poverty. 12th November 2012, Brussels, Belgium With the AgriBusiness Forum 2012 just around the corner, Babacar Ndiaye, former President of the African Development Bank and founder of the African Business Roundtable (ABR), outlines his demands towards the African and international community to act and establish basic and fundamental financial policies to create real change, after years of debates and establishing potential visions and objectives. “Africa’s agricultural potential cannot induce people into a self-righteous optimism, but should instead incite a responsible and pro-active approach from the sector’s various players because ...

31Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia News, Kenya News, Rwanda News

Kagame opens African Economic Conference, calls for models that respond to local needs

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, October 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – Rwandese leader, President Paul Kagame today in Kigali opened the 7th African Economic Conference, calling it an opportunity for leading African economists to look beyond purely economic factors for solutions to Africa’s developmental problems. Convened by the Economic Commission for Africa, (ECA), the African Development Bank, (AFDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the three-day conference is focusing on the theme Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Age of Economic Uncertainty, according to ECA’s Information and Communication Service. He said that analysts might point to issues of governance and lack of sufficient transformational leaders but “the real problem is that our...

8Oct

By The African Press OrganizationNo Comments

African News

Officials to deliberate a business plan to implement the African Mining Vision

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, October 8, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The joint partnership of the African Union Commission, the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank has hailed today’s meeting of the Bureau of the Second Conference of AU Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development as “an important milestone in implementing the Africa Mining Vision.” Convened by the Ethiopian Minister of Mines, Sinkinesh Ejigu, in her capacity as Chair of the Bureau of Ministers responsible for Mines, the 8-9 meeting aims to discuss a Business Plan aimed at establishing the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), according to Stephen Karingi, Director, Regional Integration and Trade Division, ECA. “We are all only too aware that despite Africa’s rich ...

8Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

World Bank Launches New Fund to Help African Countries Negotiate Best-Possible Deals for their Oil, Gas, and Minerals

PARIS, October, 2012―With new discoveries of oil, gas, and other minerals generating a wave of significant mineral wealth in African countries, the World Bank today launched a new fund to help countries on the continent level the playing field and ensure equitable deals in their natural resource contracts with international companies. With Africa holding 15% of the world’s oil reserves, 40% of its gold, and about 80% of the platinum group of metals, natural resources represent important development opportunities for the continent. For example, oil production has been growing steadily in Africa, and is expected to continue to rise at an average rate of six percent per year for the foreseeable future. At the 40th Anniversary Meeting of the Zone Franc Monetary Union in Paris today, attended b...