AfDB to spend $33.55bln on 620 projects in 3 years

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is set to finance 620 development projects across the continent with $33.55 billion between 2016 and 2018.
This is contained in the bank’s three year action plan for 2016 to 2018. The work plan showed that the Executive Directors of the AfDB Group approved the institution’s 2016-2018 work programme and budget on Tuesday, December 8th in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Under the budget, the bank envisaged lending of up to US 33.55 dollars billion for some 620 projects. The Board also approved 492 million dollars for its administrative budget for 2016.
“This would help scale up and accelerate the implementation of the institution’s 10-year strategy with emphasis on five priority areas known as the `High 5s’. The ‘High 5s’ include Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.
“This budget will give the Bank the means to implement its work programme and meet the growing needs of its clients, in the context of the challenges articulated through the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015-2030, COP21 and the Financing for Development conference. Under the Programme, the annual lending volume for the ADB window alone is expected to exceed the target of between 4.04 billion dollars and 5.21 billion dollars per year.
“It would enable the Bank to promote stronger partnerships and leverage additional co-financing resources to help its regional member countries (RMCs) meet their development finance requirements. Over 2016-2018, it is expected that 517.31 million dollars will be made available as technical cooperation funds to cover costs related to technical assistance personnel, project execution, studies, training and other institutional capacity-building activities in RMCs. Overall, the `Work Programme’ is geared towards scaling up the implementation of the Bank’s 2013-2022 Ten Year Strategy (TYS).
“It will help the bank sharpen its operational focus and interventions, respond to the new business environment, and strengthen its capacity and effectiveness,’’ the bank stated.
The 142-page document, which emerged from a year of long formal and informal board sessions as well as interactions between board members and management, focuses on selectivity, operational quality, decentralisation, internal capacity and financial sustainability.
The President of the bank, Akinwumi Adesina, was quoted as commending the board for its high-level engagement in the preparation of the programme. “The 2016-2018 programme and budget will enable the bank to continue delivering strong development results while reinforcing its financial sustainability. The Ten Year Strategy provides the roadmap and the architecture, while the High 5s provide a measure of the sharp development outcomes of the TYS through which we can gauge our success,’’ Adesina was further quoted as saying.