By Godfrey Olukya 2-5-2013
The economic transformation of the African continent is the cornerstone of the African Development Bank Group’s new Ten-Year (2013-2022) Strategy, senior officials at the bank have said.
A statement issued at the bank’s offices in Tunisia’s capital Tunis said that the strategy, which has been approved by the executive directors of the bank, emphasizes the quality and sustainability of growth.
‘This document reflects Africa’s vision for itself, a vision of transformation that is achievable”, said Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank Group since 2005. ‘It is a ten-year vision, which can make this continent ,within another generation, the global growth pole that we know it can be and want it to be. A place fit for our aspirations and those of our children.’
He added on that the Strategy reaffirms the Bank’s strategic choices around infrastructure, economic integration and the private sector. It charts the way towards inclusive growth that spans age, gender and geography, and takes special account of Africa’s fragile states which are home to 200 million people, as well as building climate resilience and the sustainable management of natural resources.
The Strategy identifies the five main channels through which the Bank will deliver its work and improve the quality of growth in Africa. They include infrastructure development, regional economic integration, private sector development, governance and accountability, skills and technology. The new strategy will also seek new and creative ways of mobilizing resources to support Africa’s transformation, especially by leveraging its own resources. Wider use of public-private partnerships, co-financing arrangements and risk-mitigation instruments will draw in new investors.
Mr. Kaberuka concluded by saying, ‘In a decade of seismic shifts in the global economy, Africa has defied the pessimists and experienced significant growth. That economic growth must now translate into real economic transformation, which will bring jobs and opportunities to its citizens. That is what makes the next decade so decisive, and the African Development Bank’s Strategy for 2013 to 2022 so vital’.
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