The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, said infrastructure development remains critical for effective transformation on the continent.
Adesina told newsmen on the sidelines of the ongoing AfDB Annual General Meetings 2024 in Nairobi that infrastructure was fundamental and the backbone for Africa’s transformation.
The meeting marks the 60th anniversary and 59th Annual Assembly of the AfDB and the 50th meeting of the African Development Fund (ADF).
According to him, having ports, rail, power transmission lines, transport corridors, and digital infrastructure, among other things, makes economies work.
The AfDB president reiterated the bank’s commitment to transformation and said the bank had invested about 50 billion dollars in infrastructure on the continent.
“From rails to ports to airports, to digital infrastructure, the transport corridors, water and sanitation and all of that.
And so, we will continue as African Developing Bank to push more for infrastructure.
“And that is why we inaugurated the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA).
That alliance aims to mobilise 10 billion dollars of private sector financing for infrastructure because Africa is still developing its infrastructure,” he said.
The AfDB president said the continent’s transformation also depended on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He said that to turn the AcFTA into reality, we need policies that allow industrial manufacturing and specialised value chains to gain comparative advantage in national, regional, and global markets.
On energy, the AfDB boss said it was critical for economic transformation on the continent, as you cannot industrialise in the dark.
“You cannot be competitive in the dark and grow economies when you have no power. Electricity is the lifeblood of the body.
“It is like the blood in your body or mind. If you do not have it, your economy dies. It is that simple, and there’s no two ways about it,” he said.
While highlighting some of the bank’s investments in power, Adesina said the bank and the World Bank recently agreed to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
On food, Adesina reiterated the need for Africa to feed itself, adding that the AfDB, to drive this, invested about 1.5 billion dollars in a facility called Africa Emergency Food Production Facility.
He said beyond this was political will and the need for collaboration. “Through collaboration, 72 billion dollars was raised by stakeholders globally to help boost Africa’s agriculture production.