President William Ruto of Kenya urged global leaders to accelerate climate action through finance reform, calling a deal negotiated during talks in Paris a win-win even as he stressed that he would “like to see more clarity” on how the US$9 trillion needed annually to contain global warming will come…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
With Zimbabwe’s inflation rate running rampant, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe completed a two-day round of talks on Tuesday that focused on the country’s debt-laden economy. Mnangagwa met with Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), to discuss ways to resolve some US$13 billion in debt. “Zimbabwe did…
Condolences poured in from across the world over the death of Japan’s former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, with the leaders of African nations expressing sorrow over the tragic shooting Friday during Abe’s speech in the city of Nara. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, prime minister of Mauritius, said he was deeply shocked…
Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), says he was in the VIP lounge of Dakar’s Blaise-Diagne International Airport with Senegal’s economic minister this week when another African dignitary walked in. The surprise guest was Moussa Faki Mahamat, head of the African Union Commission. What followed, the AfDB…
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says his country will begin reducing carbon emissions in 2025, 10 years earlier than previously projected. “With regard to our energy resources, we plan to build capacity to generate over 17 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030,” said Ramaphosa, speaking at the Leaders Summit on…
Akinwumi A. Adesina has been re-elected to another five-year term as president of the African Development Bank, during a board vote that came on the last day of the AfDB annual meeting. Adesina received the unanimous vote of all regional and non-regional AfDB members, despite questions about his leadership raised…
The African Development Bank Group on Wednesday announced the creation of a US$10 billion COVID-19 response package to assist regional member countries in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The bank, based in Abidjan, says this is the latest measure to support the pandemic response and will be the institution’s primary channel…
In Kigali, the African Development Bank has kicked off its World Summit on Gender with appeals to improve women’s access to financial resources they need to grow businesses and boost development. And with that, they received an endorsement from AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina. “When women borrow, they always pay back….
Akinwumi Adesina, president for African Development Bank Group, delivered a keynote address Wednesday as the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) kicked off with its emphasis on climate change and hunger. “In spite of all the gains made in agriculture, we are not winning the global war against…
When it comes to a unified African market – the topic of Tuesday’s panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos – Bernard Gautier, deputy CEO of French investment firm Wendel Group, made it easy to see the existing barriers to business and Africa’s economic growth. There’s an office…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
The president of the African Development Bank was in Johannesburg Tuesday to launch the Africa Investment Forum, calling for an aggressive approach to investment through a new African investment marketplace. “If Africa is to achieve a genuine, equitable, and sustainable economic transformation, it cannot be business as usual,” said Akinwumi…
In a first for Japan, the country’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a new loan agreement with the African Development Fund to provide USD$700.9 million to address poverty and support economic growth. “We hope the loans and grants will be used effectively to improve economic and social conditions of…
Infrastructure investment remains at the core of African economic development, says Akinwumi Adesina, president of African Development Bank (AfDB), as the bank rolls out its 2018 African Economic Outlook. “Infrastructure, when well managed, provides the financial resources to do everything else,” said Adesina, speaking from the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte…
Nigeria’s Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, this year’s recipient of the World Food Prize, says that Africa has the potential to help feed the world but needs assistance to cultivate a modern agribusiness sector and infrastructure to support it. “Africa cannot grow in the dark,” said Adesina in remarks made this week while…
This year’s World Food Prize will go to Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), whose name was announced earlier this week in the United States. The prestigious USD$250,000 prize awarded to Adesina honors his leadership in improving the practice and production of food in Africa, and in “galvanizing the…