Latest news with #AfricanDevelopmentBankGroup
Egypt Independent
12-05-2025
- Business
- Egypt Independent
President Sisi, AfDB head discuss boosting cooperation
CAIRO, May 12 (MENA) – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday discussed with President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesin ways of boosting cooperation between Egypt and the bank. The meeting was attended by Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation Rania al Mashat. The President expressed Egypt's appreciation for Adesina for his decade-long efforts in strengthening the African Development Bank's role and providing crucial funding to advance development goals across African countries, according to Presidential Spokesman Ambassador Mohamed el Shennawy. President Sisi wished Adesina success in his future endeavors and affirmed Egypt's continued support for the bank, including cooperation with its next president. Meanwhile, Adesina expressed his gratitude for Egypt's support and commended its pivotal role in enhancing the bank's development efforts across Africa in recent years. The meeting also addressed Egypt's relations with the bank and ways to boost them. Both sides stressed the importance of cultivating closer cooperation in various areas, particularly in new and renewable energy and infrastructure. They also agreed on the need to strengthen the role of the private sector in development, job creation, ensuring food and water security, improving energy efficiency, developing manufacturing capabilities, and advancing digital transformation. The two sides also emphasized the necessity of the bank's persistent support for Egypt's efforts toward growth, development, and economic reform, alongside the implementation of projects under the national platform for the 'NWFE' program. (MENA)
Egypt Today
12-05-2025
- Business
- Egypt Today
President Sisi meets President of African Development Bank Group
CAIRO – 12 May 2025: Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina on Monday. The meeting was attended by Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat. Spokesman for the Presidency, Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy, stated that the President expressed Egypt's appreciation to Adesina for his decade-long efforts in strengthening the African Development Bank's role and providing crucial funding to advance development goals across African countries. President Sisi wished him success in his future endeavors and affirmed Egypt's continued support for the bank, including cooperation with its next president. Adesina expressed his gratitude for Egypt's support and commended its pivotal role in enhancing the bank's development efforts across Africa in recent years. The meeting also addressed Egypt's relations with the bank and ways to boost them. Both sides stressed the importance of cultivating closer cooperation in various areas, particularly in new and renewable energy and infrastructure. They also agreed on the need to strengthen the role of the private sector in development, job creation, ensuring food and water security, improving energy efficiency, developing manufacturing capabilities, and advancing digital transformation. The two sides also emphasized the necessity of the bank's persistent support for Egypt's efforts toward growth, development, and economic reform, alongside the implementation of projects under the national platform for the "NWFE" program.
African Manager
01-05-2025
- Business
- African Manager
Tunisia buys 25,000t of feed barley in restricted tender, traders say
European traders reported that Tunisia's state grain agency bought around 25,000 tons of feed barley at an international auction on Wednesday with limited participation. Trading house Viterra was said to have bought the barley for $253.43 per ton, including freight and cost (c&f). Traders said that only companies from African Development Bank Group member countries were eligible to participate in the tender. The African Development Bank Group is the financier of the tender. Traders said that only two other trading houses participated. Barley can come from a variety of origins. It will be shipped between May 25 and June 15, depending on the origin chosen. The reports reflect the assessments of traders, and future estimates on prices and volume are possible.
Zawya
28-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Ahead of Conference of the Parties (COP30), Africa champions new approach to measuring green wealth of countries and incentivizing climate action
Proper valuation of natural capital and the ecosystem services it provides, such as carbon sequestration, is a win-win strategy for growing economies— Urama, African Development Bank ( We need to make bold decisions and act swiftly to accelerate the measurement of Africa's green wealth— Suda-Mafudze, African Union Commission. African leaders are advocating for a new approach to measuring the continent's green wealth, emphasizing that current gross domestic product measures in most African countries are outdated and underestimate their true wealth. They spoke on Thursday at an event hosted by the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank Group at the African Union Mission to the United States on the sidelines of the 2025 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 'We need to talk the talk and walk the talk. It is time to turn our commitments and pledges into concrete actions,' said Ambassador Hilda Suda-Mafudze, Permanent Representative of the African Union Mission to the U.S. "We need to invest in our systems of national accounts. If we want to have accurate measures of our wealth and create a store of assets, we can leverage them to drive our ambitions of shared prosperity and sustainable development." The event featured discussion of a 2024 African Development Bank Group report that found that including the value of carbon sequestered in African forests only would have resulted in an additional $66.1 billion of GDP for the continent in 2022, an expansion of about 2.2 percent. Professor Kevin Urama, African Development Bank Chief Economist and Vice President presented key findings from the report, Measuring the Green Wealth of Nations: Natural Capital and Economic Productivity in Africa. Leaders emphasized that a proper valuation of Africa's natural resources would transform the continent's financial landscape by unlocking access to global financial flows, improving national risk profiles, and creating new capacity for investments in green economies and climate-resilient infrastructure. This call to action comes ahead of the November UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, where African leaders are expected to press for reforms to the global economic and financial infrastructure, so these better reflect Africa's green wealth and sustainability contributions. 'It is time for us to redefine our identity as Africa,' said Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine in a panel discussion on practical steps towards implementing the 2025 System of National Accounts (SNAs) in Africa. 'Africa is underestimated. We must work strategically to change this.' Panelists noted that several African countries still use SNAs dating back to 1968. SNAs are an international standard system of concepts and methods for national accounts that have been adopted by most countries worldwide. Madagascar's Minister of Economy and Finance Rindra Rabarinirinarison called for more robust technology transfer and technical capacity building to enable African countries to build proper statistical systems for natural capital. She outlined that Madagascar has launched pilot projects to leverage and measure the value of its natural resources. 'Madagascar is a rich country but not rich,' she lamented, pointing to the country's abundant natural resources. Erich Strassner from IMF's Statistics Department described the report as transformational and assured that the Fund was ready to work with the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and governments to implement its recommendations. He emphasized the need to focus on priorities in each country, 'so that together we can put together a plan to bring each country up to speed on the new system of national capital evaluation.' Quoting African Development Bank figures, Ambassador Suda-Mafudze observed that if countries rebased their GDP based on carbon sequestration by forests alone, the impact would be substantial, with estimated GDP increases of 38.2% in Côte d'Ivoire, 36.7% in Benin, and 33.5% in Niger. 'We need to ensure a proper valuation of Africa's green wealth. When we know the value of this significant asset base and incorporate its true value into our national accounts, we improve our economies' risk profiles and enhance access to financial flows for financing our development,' the Ambassador said. In his presentation, Vice President Urama pointed to the massive economic value of Africa's natural resources—estimated at $6.2 trillion in 2018—and the fact that the continent accounts for 26% of global forest-based carbon capture despite contributing only 4% of global carbon emissions. "Africa's green wealth and the important global public goods and ecosystem services it provides to the world are often overlooked in economic valuations," Urama said. "This significantly underestimates African countries' gross domestic product, despite abundant green wealth." He said that in addition to natural capital, ecosystem services and informal economic activities were also not factored into GDP. Revaluing these assets through Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) and the updated System of National Accounts, which includes the informal sector, could significantly increase Africa's GDP and improve access to sustainable finance, Urama noted. 'This is not just about correcting statistics. It's about ensuring comparability of the measures of countries' GDP in Africa and globally. By updating the System of National Accounts in countries, we can ensure that the basket of goods and services included in the measure of GDP of countries is the same, and avoid comparing oranges and apples,' Urama said He called on African countries to allocate appropriate budgets to upgrade their National Accounting Systems and rebase their GDPs, noting that 'this is a smart investment that can deliver low-hanging fruit.' The Executive Secretary of the African Economic Research Consortium, Prof. Victor Murinde, described the new model developed by the African Development Bank as transformative. "It is a bold step to address a methodological gap in how the GDP of countries is measured to consider the true wealth of nations. Its recommendations provide rich materials for economists to work on in the coming years to improve the methodology for assessing the wealth of nations," he remarked. The African Development Bank expressed a commitment to work with the World Bank, the IMF, and other partners to implement the recommendations of the report. It is also advancing practical steps that include creating standard methods to value natural resources, connecting environmental goals with other policies, training local experts across Africa, and helping African countries sell their environmental benefits in worldwide carbon markets. The Bank Group will also host the African Natural Capital Accounting Community of Practice Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB). Click here for photos: Click here for the report: Media contact: Emeka Anuforo Communication and External Relations Department media@ About the African Development Bank Group: The African Development Bank Group is Africa's premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the Bank contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information:
Zawya
28-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Tunisia launches $24mln project to restore forests, revitalize rural economies
TUNIS: The Government of Tunisia, in partnership with the African Development Bank Group, has launched a flagship $24 million initiative to restore degraded forest landscapes and boost climate resilience in rural ecosystems. The Agroforestry and Degraded Forest Landscape Restoration Project (PARFD) was officially launched in Tunis. The project, estimated at $23.72 million (over 73 million Tunisian dinars), is being funded by the African Development Bank through the Climate Investment Funds' Strategic Climate Fund, which is contributing $17 million. The Tunisian Government is providing $6.06 million, while project beneficiaries contribute $660,000. The initiative aligns with Tunisia's national development priorities, including the 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy and the country's commitment to reducing carbon intensity by 45% by 2030. It is expected to generate nearly 4,500 green jobs across the governorates of Béja, Siliana, and Bizerte. 'This project marks a major milestone in Tunisia's efforts to tackle the complex challenges of climate change and promote sustainable development in rural areas,' said Mohamed Naoufel Ben Haha, Director General of Forests at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries. This project addresses the urgent need to protect natural resources through an integrated, value chain-based approach,' said Malinne Blomberg, African Development Bank Deputy Director General for North Africa and Country Manager for Tunisia. 'It targets both ecological restoration and the creation of sustainable economic and social opportunities for rural communities.' Key targets of the project include the restoration or stabilization of 33,200 hectares of land, including 2,450 hectares of private land under sub-projects focused on agroforestry, forestry, and the cultivation of aromatic and medicinal plants. Additionally, 42,000 people will receive training in sustainable land management practices. Over a 25-year horizon, the project is expected to enable sequestration of 32 million tonnes of carbon, significantly contributing to Tunisia's climate goals.
