Latest news with #developmentfinance
Arab News
3 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan's finance chief stresses apolitical funding approach in meeting with World Bank officials
KARACHI: Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Friday called for a merit-based approach to global development financing, urging international lenders to rise above political considerations during a meeting with incoming and outgoing World Bank country directors in Islamabad. The meeting followed weeks of diplomatic friction between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, which escalated into a four-day military standoff involving fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery fire. Amid the tensions, Indian authorities lobbied the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to halt the disbursement of a $1 billion tranche to Pakistan, saying the funds could finance Islamabad's military activities. IMF officials later dismissed the concerns, emphasizing the disbursement mechanisms ensured transparency and that IMF support was intended to stabilize developing economies' balance of payments, with the funds directed to central banks rather than governments. 'The Minister ... highlighted the recent successful completion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) review and the subsequent $1 billion disbursement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), along with additional resources made available through the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF),' said a statement circulated by the finance ministry after the meeting. 'He noted that development finance must be guided by merit and objective assessment, rising above political considerations to ensure sustainable progress,' it added. Aurangzeb also praised the World Bank's longstanding support for Pakistan's economy, especially in times of fiscal stress, and reiterated Islamabad's commitment to deepening collaboration with the institution. He extended a warm welcome to Bolormaa Amgaabazar, the new World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, while commending her predecessor, Najy Benhassine, for his contributions during his tenure. A key point of discussion was the World Bank's 10-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF), a strategic agreement designed to guide development cooperation through targeted investments in Pakistan's critical sectors. The CPF, finalized during Benhassine's tenure, will now be overseen by Amgaabazar and aims to unlock $20 billion for the country. Aurangzeb highlighted the importance of effective implementation of the framework to fully leverage the Bank's institutional, technical and financial support. The meeting reaffirmed mutual commitment to strengthening Pakistan's economic resilience and advancing inclusive development through strategic partnerships, the finance ministry said.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
African Development Bank elects top economist as president to face funding challenges
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — The African Development Bank elected Mauritanian economist Sidi Ould Tah as its next president on Thursday to steer the region's top development finance institution through difficult times amid funding cuts from the U.S. and other key partners. Tah, 60, was elected by the bank's board of governors, which includes finance ministers and central bank governors from its 81 regional and non-regional member countries. He will take over on Sept. 1 for a five-year term, succeeding Nigeria's Akinwumi Adesina , who is stepping down after two terms.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
African Development Bank elects top economist as president to face funding challenges
The African Development Bank elected Mauritanian economist Sidi Ould Tah as its next president on Thursday to steer the region's top development finance institution through difficult times amid funding cuts from the U.S. and other key partners. Tah, 60, was elected by the bank's board of governors, which includes finance ministers and central bank governors from its 81 regional and non-regional member countries. He will take over on Sept. 1 for a five-year term, succeeding Nigeria's Akinwumi Adesina, who is stepping down after two terms. The election took three rounds of voting to decide between the five candidates in the contest. Tah won with 76.18% of the vote, ahead of Zambia's Samuel Maimbo (with 20.26%), who is a vice-president of the World Bank, and former Senegalese economy minister Amadou Hott (3.55%). The vote came during the bank's annual meetings in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where economic headwinds — from debt distress to climate shocks — have dominated discussions. Observers see Tah's leadership as pivotal in steering the institution through a period of rising pressure on African economies and tightening global development finance. 'The AfDB's role is now more critical than ever,' said Bismark Rewane, an economist and chief executive of Lagos-based Financial Derivatives Co. He called for 'African resilience" at a time when 'no one is going to pick the chestnut out of the fire' for African countries. "Africa has to look more inwards and be innovative in its thinking to thrive,' Rewane said. Since 2015, Tah has been managing the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, based in Khartoum, Sudan. He has formerly held senior government roles in Mauritania, including minister of agriculture and minister of economy and rural development, and was an economic advisor to the president. —-
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
African Development Bank elects top economist as president to face funding challenges
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — The African Development Bank elected Mauritanian economist Sidi Ould Tah as its next president on Thursday to steer the region's top development finance institution through difficult times amid funding cuts from the U.S. and other key partners. Tah, 60, was elected by the bank's board of governors, which includes finance ministers and central bank governors from its 81 regional and non-regional member countries. He will take over on Sept. 1 for a five-year term, succeeding Nigeria's Akinwumi Adesina, who is stepping down after two terms. The election took three rounds of voting to decide between the five candidates in the contest. Tah won with 76.18% of the vote, ahead of Zambia's Samuel Maimbo (with 20.26%), who is a vice-president of the World Bank, and former Senegalese economy minister Amadou Hott (3.55%). The vote came during the bank's annual meetings in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where economic headwinds — from debt distress to climate shocks — have dominated discussions. Observers see Tah's leadership as pivotal in steering the institution through a period of rising pressure on African economies and tightening global development finance. 'The AfDB's role is now more critical than ever,' said Bismark Rewane, an economist and chief executive of Lagos-based Financial Derivatives Co. He called for 'African resilience' at a time when 'no one is going to pick the chestnut out of the fire' for African countries. 'Africa has to look more inwards and be innovative in its thinking to thrive,' Rewane said. Since 2015, Tah has been managing the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, based in Khartoum, Sudan. He has formerly held senior government roles in Mauritania, including minister of agriculture and minister of economy and rural development, and was an economic advisor to the president. —- Adebayo reported from Abuja, Nigeria.
Malay Mail
26-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Power, debt and self-reliance: Five contenders vie to reshape African Development Bank's future
LONDON, May 26 — Five candidates are running to become President of the African Development Bank in an election on Thursday during the lender's annual meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Tectonic shifts in global development finance — with shrinking concessional funding, cuts to wealthy countries' aid spending and whipsawing borrowing costs — have made the bank's US$318 billion capital more crucial to Africa's development. Who are they and what do they want to do? Swazi Tshabalala Bajabulile A banker with 30 years of experience, Tshabalala was, until October, AfDB's senior vice president. The South African, and sole female candidate, plans to transform the bank if she takes the helm. 'The internal structure of the institution ... doesn't facilitate the right sort of sustained focus to be able to really deliver effectively on things like infrastructure,' she said. 'We really should consolidate that.' Tshabalala said if delivered properly, infrastructure would allow Africa to tap its resources — from minerals to finance to trade. She wants to create innovative financial instruments, building on the AfDB's foray into hybrid capital. Amadou Hott Senegal's former economy minister has decades of banking experience from Lagos to London. He would focus the AfDB on African financial self-reliance by mobilising resources and designing projects to keep private money on the continent. 'Revenue mobilisation is number one,' he said. Hott said revenue collection must rise — the average tax to GDP ratio in Africa is 16 per cent, versus the OECD average of 34 per cent — which could boost credit ratings, lower borrowing costs and marshal money for pressing needs, including power and infrastructure. 'The money is out there,' he said, adding that a lack of ready-made well-structured projects that mitigated risks and delivered returns had hamstrung private sector mobilisation. Samuel Munzele Maimbo A current World Bank vice president, the Zambian has three decades of development finance experience. As president, he would launch behind-the-scenes work to aggregate data, fix the financial plumbing and streamline regulations to enable Africa's 54 nations to trade with — and finance — each other. 'Now more than ever before, we've got to get trade working on the continent,' he said. 'If we're only trading 15 per cent of our products amongst each other, our products are either rotting or they're being undervalued.' Maimbo — who has the backing of the Southern African Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa — wants a continent-wide approach to everything from debt sustainability to revenue collection and infrastructure. Sidi Ould Tah Mauritania's ex-finance minister and presidential adviser has run the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa for the past decade. 'The AfDB must break free from legacy constraints and position itself as the driver of Africa's economic sovereignty,' Tah said. He is focused on four points: mobilising a broader scope of capital, reforming financial systems, harnessing demographics by formalising the 'informal sector' that employs 83 per cent of Africans and building climate-resilient infrastructure. By partnering with the private sector, other multilateral institutions and regional development banks, the AfDB can turn every US$1 raised into US$10 of productive capital, he said. Abbas Mahamat Tolli Tolli has held top financial positions across Central Africa, including as Chad's finance minister, regional central bank governor and president of the Development Bank of Central African States. He focuses on self-sufficiency — from agriculture to finance — and wants to strengthen governance to cut inefficient, untransparent spending that has mired countries in debt without development. Africa suffers a lot of financial outflows due to fiscal evasion or mismanagement of resources, he said, adding 'we need to better manage.' To make it work, Tolli envisions a 'major overhaul' of the AfDB's operational model by pooling risk, strengthening public-private partnerships and digitising financing mechanisms. Tolli said his own life — tending goats as a child after fleeing civil war aged six — mirrored Africa's journey and gave him unique insight into how to lift all those on the continent. — Reuters
