“Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa,”Minister Larose attended 52nd ADB meetings
June 12, 2017
Monday 12th June 2017- Victoria; Minister for Finance, Trade and Economic Planning attended the African Development Bank Group 2017 Annual Meetings held in Ahmedabad, India, from 22 nd-26th May 2017.
The 52nd Annual Meetings was held under the theme ‘Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa. The Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the 43 rd Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund (ADF), reviewed and endorsed the Bank’s 2016 Annual Report and its programmes for the coming year.
The Governors endorsed the Bank’s leadership in the transformation of African agriculture in the context of the global commitment to end poverty and overcome hunger and food insecurity. “We encourage the Bank to continue to work with other donor agencies to crowd in financial resources, financing modalities and policy tools to unlock the potential of the sector and to fast-track the achievement of Africa’s agricultural transformation,” they said in their final communiqué.
The Indian Prime Minister, His Excellency, Narendra Modi presided over the opening session in the presence of three African Heads of State – Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal and Patrice Talon of Benin, as well as Vice-President Daniel Kablan Duncan of Côte d’Ivoire participated in the ceremony alongside India’s Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley, and the Chief Minister for Gujarat State, His Excellency, Vijay Rupani.
In line with the central theme, “Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa,” many of the high-level meetings explored how India and Africa can work together order to achieve their shared goal of rural and agricultural transformation, which would go a long way in reducing rural poverty and improving the quality of lives of rural people.
The 2017 edition of the African Economic Outlook (AEO) and a book on “Beating the Odds: Jump- Starting Developing Countries,” were launched along with the Financial Presentation on the Bank’s operations the previous year. During the annual meetings, the Minister of Finance, Trade and Economic Planning. Dr. Peter Larose also met with representatives of various financial institutions such as; African Development Bank (AfDB), Exim Bank of India, Kuwait Fund, BADEA and OFID with regards to ongoing cooperation programme. The Minister also met with the Chief Minister of Gujarat- H.E Shri Vijay Rupani and discussed cooperation in healthcare, Tourism, IT and cultural exchange.
The Minister also took the opportunity, while in India to visit the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He met with the Governor, Mr. Urjit Patel. He also met with representatives of the business community, who were interested to learn of the possibilities for cooperation between the two countries.
The Minister was accompanied by the Principal Secretary, Economic Planning Department, Mrs. Elizabeth Agathine.
The 2017 Annual Meetings is the fourth time that the Annual Meetings of AfDB are being held outside Africa. The 53rd Annual Meetings will be held in Busan, Korea, on May 21-25, 2018.