The African Development Bank (AFDB) has reiterated its commitment to promote mutual reliance on the continent in procurement diagnostic tools and social environment safeguards.

The AfDB’s Senior Vice-President, Swazi Tshabalala, said this at the Annual Development Effectiveness Report held on the sidelines of the 2024 AfDB Annual Meetings in Nairobi.

Tshabalala said the Bank would continue to adapt its operational model, simplify its business processes, and further collaborate with other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to promote mutual reliance.

‘The report provides supportive development results of AfDB’s global finance projects, which demonstrate its increased efforts in normalising and catalysing other sources of finance from the private sector.

‘These development results represent a collective achievement delivered in collaboration and partnership with other international development banks and development partners, and of course, our client partners.

‘In this year’s report, we have incorporate
d innovative tools and methods like satellite imaging to better capture and analyse the development impact of our investments.

‘For instance, using high-resolution impact mapping, we were able to assess the impact of Bank-financed water and sanitation projects on the living conditions of residents in 28 urban areas in Kenya,’ she said.

She said the report also provided the supportive development results of our global finance projects, which allowed us to demonstrate the Bank’s increased efforts in normalising and catalysing other sources of finance.

The vice-president said that, in spite of the pandemic’s lingering challenges and geopolitical tensions, the bank group had earned its triple-A award.

‘The Bank generated a historically high net income and approved projects to the value of 10 billion dollars, the second-highest funding level.

‘The Bank will also support member countries or regional member countries in establishing appropriate platforms for business coordination at the country level.

‘The Af
DB is recognised for its leadership in financial innovations, implementing many of the recommendations of the G20 Capital Adequacy Framework,’ she said.

Tshabalala said this was coming at a time when the Bank inaugurated a 10-year strategy (2024-2033) that served as an answer to the continent’s current complex hurdles.

She said it also boldly outlined the Bank’s determination to support Africa in overcoming multiple challenges.

Tshabalala said the strategy reflected the ambitions ‘for the Africa we want’ and came at a time when the continental body was prioritising the fully operational African Continental Free Trade Areas (AfCFTA).

‘The new 10-year strategy outlines the vision of a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and integrated Africa.

‘It is supported by twin strategic objectives, accelerating inclusive green growth in Africa and driving prosperous and resilient economies.

‘To pursue these twin objectives, the Bank has defined clear pathways for addressing Africa’s challenges and to help the continen
t stay on track toward sustainable economic growth and prosperity.

‘The five high-five operational priorities will continue to shape the implementation of the strategy as they continue to be aligned with the objectives of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs,’ she said.

She said the implementation of those priorities will be underpinned by the cross-cutting priorities to promote gender equality, invest in young people, and respond to climate change.

She said it would also depend on building resilience to shocks, conflicts and fragility and of course, strengthening economic governance.

‘The strategy outlines AfDB’s response to the complex threats facing Africa, the global and regional challenges and answering the G20 call for MDBs to reform, become better, bigger and more efficient,’ she said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria