Senior Finance Officers attend the African Development Bank Group 2018 Annual Meetings
June 05, 2018
The African Development Bank Group 2018 Annual Meetings was held in Busan, Korea from 21st-25th May, and the Republic of Seychelles was represented by Ambassador Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, the Minister responsible for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning, and the Principal Secretary of Economic Planning, Elizabeth Agathine.
The 53rd Annual Meetings was held under the theme ‘Accelerating Africa’s Industrialisation’. The Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), reviewed and endorsed the Bank’s 2017 Annual Report and its programmes for the coming year.
The Board of Governors commended the Bank’s performance in 2017, which had recorded approvals of US $8.7 billion and over $7 billion of disbursements, results never before achieved since its creation in 1964.
The Bank’s 80 Governors, who represent the 80 member countries of the African Development Bank Group, both regional and non-regional, also underscored the need for a strong and financially viable African Development Bank – one that is efficient, effective, responsible and results-oriented.
They also authorized the Governors’ Consultative Committee to open discussions on the general capital increase, the purpose of which was to allow the Bank to respond to the financing needs of its regional member countries and achieve its development objectives.
The debates in the 53rd Annual Meetings also highlighted the need to associate the search for external financing with mobilization of internal resources, notably through more effective management of public finances and a relentless campaign to combat illicit financial flows out of the African continent
In Busan, the Annual Meetings were an opportunity to celebrate the partnership which unites Korea and Africa, through the bilateral Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Conference (KOAFEC) under the co-chairmanship of the Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, Dong Yeon Kim, the outgoing President of the Board of Governors of the Bank, and Adesina Akinwumi, President of the African Development Bank.
On the occasion, Korea announced the establishment of an envelope of US $5 billion to finance various cooperation projects with Africa, notably in the fields of knowledge development, capacity-building, energy and human resources.
The 2018 edition of the African Economic Outlook (AEO) were launched along with the Financial Presentation on the Bank’s operations the previous year.
During the annual meetings, the Minister also engaged with representatives of other financing institutions such as BADEA with regards to ongoing cooperation programme.
The 2017 Annual Meetings is the fifth time that the Annual Meetings of AfDB are being held outside Africa.
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, will host the 54th meeting in May 2019.