Strengthen Africa to withstand financial shocks, build climate-resilient economies, African leaders say at African Development Bank annual meetings | African Development Bank

The African Development Bank Group’s annual meetings for 2023 officially opened on Tuesday, with a clarion call from African leaders, along with the bank’s president, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, to ramp up funding to meet Africa’s pressing climate goals .

In his welcome remarks, Adesina drew attention to the huge gap in resources for climate action. He said that while Africa’s cumulative climate finance needs between 2020 and 2030 were estimated at $2.7 trillion, climate finance resources were only flowing to Africa in a trickle. “Africa receives only 3% of global climate finance, of which 14% comes from the private sector, the lowest in the world,” said Adesina.

This year’s annual meetings, themed “Mobilizing private sector finance for climate and green growth in Africa”, bring together the Bank’s Board of Governors representing its 81 shareholder countries, development partners, as well as representatives from the private sector and represent civil society organisations. .

In his opening address, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that the complex challenges facing countries around the world, particularly those in Africa, are in need of what he described as creative solutions.

“This requires non-traditional ideas to explore financing options, to help propel much-needed projects, particularly in addressing climate change and sustainable development challenges,” said President El-Sisi.

Citing African Development Bank and United Nations statistics, he noted that Africa needed $144 billion annually to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, $108 billion to fund adaptation projects and improve infrastructure, and $200 billion to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The functions of the current edition of the annual meetings represent an excellent opportunity to share knowledge and expertise and provide the necessary technical support to address the impacts of climate change,” said President El-Sisi.

The President of the Union of the Comoros and President of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, argued that the slowdown in GDP growth across Africa required “significant resources for the countries most exposed to the impacts of climate change” . Yet there are still “opportunities for green economic growth, if we involve our private sector,” Assoumani said.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, expressed his agreement with the timely choice of the theme of the annual meetings. He highlighted the devastating impact of climate change on Africa, in the form of floods and droughts, which have limited the continent’s GDP growth.

Along with other speakers, Hassan Abdalla, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group and Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, said that the theme “encompasses all issues of regional and global importance, in particular the importance of harnessing capital to tackle climate change”. .”

“Achieving our economic goals depends on the strength of institutions led by the African Development Bank, which is a pioneer in the development financing of economies,” said Abdalla.

Adesina said the African Development Bank has shown leadership with innovative solutions for its member countries. He cited the African Adaptation Acceleration Program, which aims to mobilize $25 billion for climate adaptation in partnership with the Global Center on Adaptation.

According to Adesina, Africa is well positioned to attract billions of dollars in private investment to green global transportation systems as the world transitions to electric vehicles. “That’s because Africa has 80% of the world’s platinum deposits, 50% of cobalt, 40% of nickel and substantial deposits of lithium,” he said.

Adesina said Africa needs to set itself up to produce lithium-ion batteries to tap into the $388 billion electric vehicle market. “And rightly so: the cost of setting up a lithium ion precursor plant in Africa is three times more expensive than in the US or China,” he said.

The 58th annual meetings of the African Development Bank Board of Directors and the 49th meetings of the African Development Fund Board of Directors will take place May 22-26 in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

click here for the full text of Dr. Adesina’s opening speech.

Dr. Adesina’s Presidential Dialogue Speech.

Click here for more information on the annual meetings of the African Development Bank in 2023.