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The Guardian
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘I don't want freebies': outgoing AfDB head on why investment, not aid, will shape Africa's future
The man known as Africa's 'optimist-in-chief' faces one of his toughest challenges this year: handing over the reins of his beloved institution to his successor. After 10 years at the top of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina will this week see a new president elected at the bank's annual meeting in Ivory Coast before a handover in September. Adesina will be passing on a bank that has grown dramatically during his tenure. 'In 2015, the capital of the bank was $93bn. Today, the African Development Bank is $318bn.' In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the 65-year-old Nigerian was characteristically upbeat about the continent's future but realistic about the challenges, many of which, he says, stem from injustice in the way African countries are treated. 'In terms of the taxes and royalties that Africa should be getting from its vast natural resources. Africa has oil, gas, minerals, metals; we have forest, we have everything. But we are not getting anything from it because international corporations and national corporations don't pay the relevant taxes and royalties. So we need to make sure that is done. 'We must have impatience with underdevelopment,' he says. The AfDB has been gaining prestige, ranked as the world's best multilateral financial institution in 2021 by Global Finance and feted for its transparency in last year's aid transparency index. Set up in 1964, it is a specialised financial institution focused on promoting economic and social progress, unlike a profit-driven commercial bank. 'Whoever is taking over, they are certainly getting a walk-on global institution,' Adesina says. 'But it's not a job – it's a mission. You have to breathe it. And Africa is watching.' 'Multilateral financial institutions like ourselves were not set up to do Mickey Mouse stuff, little marginal stuff; no, we were set up to address global challenges. 'Without infrastructure there is no trade. And so the bank, in the last 10 years, invested more than $55bn in infrastructure. 'Scale matters. Impact matters. Delivery matters. But most importantly, you cannot get to where you could not envision – vision drives.' The aid budget cuts from the US, the UK and others are less of a concern to Adesina than the lack of fairness in how the world's economic powers and risk assessors treat African countries. 'If African countries were rated properly, equitably,' he says, 'they would be paying $75bn less every year in terms of servicing their debts. 'The president of Kenya, William Ruto, he told me something. He said when there was a military coup in Niger, he got information that Kenya had to pay an increased interest rate on their bonds – because there was a coup in Niger. 'He said he told the person: 'Well look, this is the map of Kenya. Where is Niger: inside it, or out or next to it?' 'Aid has helped countries that needed it, that are vulnerable. It has been good. There's no doubt about that,' Adesina says. 'But aid cannot be part of my balance sheet. 'Benevolence is good; what benevolence is not is an asset class. But the future of Africa is going to come from investment, not aid. I don't want freebies – I want Africa to develop with pride.' But Adesina remains resolutely positive. 'I will always be optimistic about the future of Africa. God did not make a mistake when he made me an African. And I will ask God for permission to resurrect as an African. 'My heart, my soul, my mind, is in advancing my continent's development. If you look at the opportunities that we have, we have not even scratched it. 'We have the largest population of youth in the world today,' he notes. 'One out of four people in the world are going to be African by 2050. Africa will be the workshop of the world, brimming with talents, with opportunities for its young people. 'You look at the size of our digital economy today. It's roughly $180bn. But its going to go to $712bn by 2050. You have Africa urbanising more rapidly than any other region of the world. 'What Africa does with agriculture will determine the future of food in the world. So why will I not be optimistic? That is the place to be. The question to ask is why are you not in Africa? If you are not in Africa, I wonder where you are.' Adesina hits out at the stereotype that investing in Africa is high risk. 'Really? Is Africa that risky compared to others? No, the data doesn't support that. 'Bloomberg, and Moody's Analytics did an assessment over 14 years: loss rates in Africa on industry investment, 1.9%. The case for North America, 6.6%. Latin America was 10%. For eastern Europe, over 12.2%. In western Asia, 4.6%. Western Europe, 4.6%. 'Africa has the lowest,' he emphasises. 'So the issue is understand Africa. We are there to support investors on this continent. And I know that Africa is the biggest greenfield investment frontier in the world. 'When I came to the bank, I told myself, 'this is the African Development Bank – the most important part is the development part.' And so my focus was how do we accelerate development? 'That was how I simplified it in a clear way into the 'high fives' of the bank: to light up and power Africa – electricity for everybody. To feed Africa. To industrialise, to integrate Africa and to improve the quality of life of the people – that means water, sanitation, education, skills, jobs. If Africa achieved these high fives, we would have achieved 90% of the UN sustainable development goals.' Adesina and Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, last year launched Mission 300, a private-public collaboration to connect an additional 300 million sub-Saharan Africans – half of the 600 million living without electricity – to grids by 2030. Although proud of the big projects under way, including Africa's largest wind-power scheme in Lake Turkana, Kenya, he says there is more to be done in the energy sector. 'I'm excited about the level of political commitment I'm seeing from the heads of state,' he says. 'Today, you have 10 out of the 20 fastest-growing economies in the world in Africa. So, it's a pluralism of excitement about the future prospects and resilience of Africa. It's not about emotion. It's about the reality and the world cannot ignore Africa. 'I'm fully confident that the stone that the builders rejected, will soon become one day the head cornerstone.' For the new president, he also wishes much energy. 'My time ends 1 September,' he smiles. 'There will be a note that I will leave to my successor, some ideas.'
South China Morning Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Britain has capitulated to Trump's coercive trade. Others must resist
The UK-US trade deal, trumpeted by President Donald Trump as a grand achievement, is no triumph of statecraft. It is a hollow spectacle , political theatre masquerading as economic progress. For Britain, it lays bare the perils of negotiating from weakness. For other major economies – the European Union Japan or China – it stands as a cautionary tale. They must heed Britain's experience: strength, not desperation, must define their approach; substance, not optics, must be their demand. Strip away the bombast, and the deal reveals itself as lopsided. Britain receives some relief on tariffs on cars and steel, and secures modest access to US markets for agricultural goods but at a steep cost: acquiescence to stringent American standards that threaten to undercut its own producers. Meanwhile, a 10 per cent tariff persists on most British exports, still higher than a few months ago. In return, the US gains expansive entry into British markets – pharmaceuticals, technology services – offering little in meaningful reciprocity. The UK government said the deal was needed to save up to 150,000 jobs. This is not the art of the deal – it is a strategic capitulation. But Britain is vulnerable – born of post-Brexit isolation . Having cast off the EU, the country drifts economically, burdened by a shrinking economy and rising unemployment.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Asian shares advance as details awaited on progress in China-US trade talks
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares advanced Monday after two days of trade talks between China and the U.S. made what the U.S. side said was ' substantial progress.' U.S. futures and oil prices advanced. Officials said a joint statement would be issued later Monday following the trade talks in Geneva over the weekend. Investors are also watching for developments in other flashpoints including clashes between India and Pakistan, the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East. India's Sensex jumped about 2.5% after it and Pakistan agreed to a truce after talks to defuse their most serious military confrontation in decades. The two armies have exchanged gunfire, artillery strikes, missiles and drones that killed dozens of people. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up early gains to trade up 0.6% at 23,009.64, while the Shanghai Composite Index picked up 0.4% to 3,355.54. Chinese EV battery maker CATL, or Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., said in a prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it plans to raise nearly $4 billion in a share listing. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there was 'substantial progress' in the weekend trade talks but offered scant information on exactly what the negotiations entailed. Separarely, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said both sides had agreed to 'establishing a consultation mechanism' for further discussions on trade and economic issues. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 added less than 0.1% to 37,519.80, while the Kospi in Seoul gained 0.5% to 2589.30. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.2% to 8,249.70. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.9%. On Friday, U.S. stocks drifted, with the S&P 500 edging 0.1% lower to 5,659.91. It finished the week with a modest dip of 0.5%. It was the first week in seven where the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts moved by less than 1.5%, after careening on fears about President Donald Trump's trade war and hopes that he'll relent on some of his tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3% to 41,249.38, while the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to 17,928.92. Apart from trade talks and other geopolitical factors, the flow of earnings reports for the start of the year from companies is slowing but still moving markets. Expedia sank 7.3% even though the travel website reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The owner of Vrbo and said demand was weaker than it expected during the quarter, and it highlighted softer-than-expected demand in the United States, as well as a nearly 30% decline in bookings from Canada to its southern neighbor. Other travel-related companies, including Hilton and Airbnb, have reported a similar softening in travel demand to the U.S. in their recent earnings reports. Fast-casual restaurant chain Sweetgreen wilted by 16.2% after the salad seller reported a slightly larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. They offset a 28.1% rally for Lyft, which delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company said it reached the highest weekly ridership levels in its history during the last week of March. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the chip giant known as TSMC, offered an encouraging report, saying its revenue in April leaped 48.1% from a year earlier. That sent its stock that trades in the United States up 0.7%. Insulet jumped 20.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the medical device company reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 38 cents to $61.40 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 34 cents to $64.25 per barrel. The U.S. dollar advanced to 145.85 Japanese yen from 146.17 yen. The euro edged higher, to $1.1228 from $1.1209.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Asian shares advance as details awaited on progress in China-US trade talks
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares advanced Monday after two days of trade talks between China and the U.S. made what the U.S. side said was ' substantial progress.' U.S. futures and oil prices advanced. Officials said a joint statement would be issued later Monday following the trade talks in Geneva over the weekend. Investors are also watching for developments in other flashpoints including clashes between India and Pakistan, the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up early gains to trade up 0.6% at 23,009.64, while the Shanghai Composite Index picked up 0.4% to 3,355.54. Chinese EV battery maker CATL, or Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., said in a prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it plans to raise nearly $4 billion in a share listing. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there was 'substantial progress' in the weekend sessions but offered scant information on exactly what negotiations entailed. Separarely, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said both sides had agreed to 'establishing a consultation mechanism' for further discussions on trade and economic issues. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 added less than 0.1% to 37,519.80, while the Kospi in Seoul gained 0.5% to 2589.30. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.2% to 8,249.70. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.9%. On Friday, U.S. stocks drifted, with the S&P 500 edging 0.1% lower to 5,659.91. It finished the week with a modest dip of 0.5%. It was the first week in seven where the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts moved by less than 1.5%, after careening on fears about President Donald Trump's trade war and hopes that he'll relent on some of his tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3% to 41,249.38, while the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to 17,928.92. Apart from trade talks and other geopolitical factors, the flow of earnings reports for the start of the year from companies is slowing but still moving markets. Expedia sank 7.3% even though the travel website reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The owner of Vrbo and said demand was weaker than it expected during the quarter, and it highlighted softer-than-expected demand in the United States, as well as a nearly 30% decline in bookings from Canada to its southern neighbor. Other travel-related companies, including Hilton and Airbnb, have reported a similar softening in travel demand to the U.S. in their recent earnings reports. Fast-casual restaurant chain Sweetgreen wilted by 16.2% after the salad seller reported a slightly larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. They offset a 28.1% rally for Lyft, which delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company said it reached the highest weekly ridership levels in its history during the last week of March. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the chip giant known as TSMC, offered an encouraging report, saying its revenue in April leaped 48.1% from a year earlier. That sent its stock that trades in the United States up 0.7%. Insulet jumped 20.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the medical device company reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 38 cents to $61.40 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 34 cents to $64.25 per barrel. The U.S. dollar advanced to 145.85 Japanese yen from 146.17 yen. The euro edged higher, to $1.1228 from $1.1209. Jiang Junzhe, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Asian shares advance as details awaited on progress in China-US trade talks
Asian shares advanced Monday after two days of trade talks between China and the U.S. made what the U.S. side said was ' substantial progress.' U.S. futures and oil prices advanced. Officials said a joint statement would be issued later Monday following the trade talks in Geneva over the weekend. Investors are also watching for developments in other flashpoints including clashes between India and Pakistan, the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up early gains to trade up 0.6% at 23,009.64, while the Shanghai Composite Index picked up 0.4% to 3,355.54. Chinese EV battery maker CATL, or Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., said in a prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it plans to raise nearly $4 billion in a share listing. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there was 'substantial progress' in the weekend sessions but offered scant information on exactly what negotiations entailed. Separarely, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said both sides had agreed to 'establishing a consultation mechanism' for further discussions on trade and economic issues. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 added less than 0.1% to 37,519.80, while the Kospi in Seoul gained 0.5% to 2589.30. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.2% to 8,249.70. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.9%. On Friday, U.S. stocks drifted, with the S&P 500 edging 0.1% lower to 5,659.91. It finished the week with a modest dip of 0.5%. It was the first week in seven where the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts moved by less than 1.5%, after careening on fears about President Donald Trump's trade war and hopes that he'll relent on some of his tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3% to 41,249.38, while the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to 17,928.92. Apart from trade talks and other geopolitical factors, the flow of earnings reports for the start of the year from companies is slowing but still moving markets. Expedia sank 7.3% even though the travel website reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The owner of Vrbo and said demand was weaker than it expected during the quarter, and it highlighted softer-than-expected demand in the United States, as well as a nearly 30% decline in bookings from Canada to its southern neighbor. Other travel-related companies, including Hilton and Airbnb, have reported a similar softening in travel demand to the U.S. in their recent earnings reports. Fast-casual restaurant chain Sweetgreen wilted by 16.2% after the salad seller reported a slightly larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. They offset a 28.1% rally for Lyft, which delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company said it reached the highest weekly ridership levels in its history during the last week of March. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the chip giant known as TSMC, offered an encouraging report, saying its revenue in April leaped 48.1% from a year earlier. That sent its stock that trades in the United States up 0.7%. Insulet jumped 20.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the medical device company reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 38 cents to $61.40 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 34 cents to $64.25 per barrel. The U.S. dollar advanced to 145.85 Japanese yen from 146.17 yen. The euro edged higher, to $1.1228 from $1.1209.
