AfDB Calls for Bold Reforms Amid Climate, Financial, and Food Security Challenges in Africa

Dr. Adesina Advocates Accelerated Action, Innovation, and Partnerships to Meet Africa's Development Goals.

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), emphasized the urgent need for bold reforms, innovative solutions, and global partnerships to tackle Africa's development challenges, including climate change, financial shocks, and food insecurity. Addressing these barriers is critical for Africa to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he remarked during the meeting of multilateral development bank (MDB) leaders with the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, DC.

Africa is facing a convergence of crises that demand swift action, Dr Adesina stated, highlighting priorities such as eliminating malnutrition, achieving universal access to electricity, scaling up infrastructure, and boosting climate resilience. Specifically, he reiterated the AfDB’s Mission 300 initiative with the World Bank, aimed at connecting 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030, with an Africa Energy Summit slated for January 2025 in Tanzania to endorse an Africa Energy Compact.

Adesina's delegation includes several senior AfDB officials, such as Senior Vice President Marie Laure Akin-Olugbade and Hassatou N’Sele, Vice President for Finance. Their agenda in Washington includes high-stakes meetings with MDB leaders and consultations with development partners, as well as preparations for the Africa Investment Forum set for December 2024 in Morocco. This forum has been instrumental in attracting over $180 billion in international investment interest over the past five years across Africa's critical sectors.

The AfDB’s concessional lending arm, the African Development Fund, was also a central topic, with Adesina seeking additional resources to support fragile African nations. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen praised the bank’s work and noted progress on structural solutions that address fragility, citing a recent loan to the Democratic Republic of Congo to aid displaced communities through enhanced agricultural productivity.

Following his meetings in Washington, Adesina will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to participate in the 2024 Borlaug Dialogue and World Food Prize, a platform for global discussions on food security and agricultural innovation where African heads of state will convene.

The 2024 IMF Annual Meetings continue through October 26, featuring discussions from the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee on development financing and multilateral cooperation strategies.