Ken Ofori- Atta, Minister of Finance
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is set to host its 57th Annual General Meetings (AGM) in Accra this month. The meetings, which will be held from May 23 to 27, is the first in person meetings in two years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Africa.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, made the official announcement during the Minister’s Press Briefing in Accra yesterday
The Meetings, he said, would provide Ghana and Africa at large with a platform to deliberate and advance African solutions to African problems, particularly as the continent seeks to recover from the twin crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine.
“This is the first time Ghana will be hosting this event (in-person) in our history, after we signed on as a founding member state on August 14 1963, in Khartoum, Sudan and attended the Bank’s inaugural Board Meeting in November 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria.
“Indeed, we had a Ghanaian, Dr. Kwame Donkoh Fordjour Kantinka, as the President of this Bank between May, 1976 and July, 1979. These facts, together with our championing role in setting up what has become Africa’s premier Bank, suggest that hosting this event now seems long overdue,” he said.
New path
The Finance Minister, however, said it is better late than never, especially now that the continent is charting a new path towards building forward better, noting that “Ghana has the opportunity to host the Annual Meetings of the two main entities that make up the AfDB, namely the ADB and ADF.
‘Typically, about 3500 participants attend the AGM. This month, we will host about 1,000 delegates for the 57th African Development Bank (ADB) and 48th African Development Fund (ADF) annual meetings,” he said.
He noted that, since its inception, the African Development Bank had focused on its mandate of advancing Africa’s social and economic transformation and economic integration.
“That mission is even more relevant today. Today, 41 African economies are severely exposed to at least one of three concurrent crises – rising food prices, rising energy prices, and tightening financial conditions,” he noted.
Inflation
Mr Ofori-Atta said food prices are 34 percent higher not only in Ghana, but across the globe, than this time last year, and had never been this high since the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation started recording them.
“Crude oil prices have increased by around 60 percent, and gas and fertilizer prices have more than doubled. Global inflation rose to a decade high of 6.0 percent in February, causing many central banks to signal increases in interest rates, inevitably leading to higher debt servicing costs. The number of people experiencing hunger has increased by 46 million in Africa. This ‘toxic mix’ of challenges persists even as the continent recovers from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
Overcoming the spread and scope of these challenges, he said, requires collective and coordinated action at the regional level if Africa, adding that with the AfDB, “we have a well-positioned institution with a convening power and a network of technical and financial resources to significantly contribute toward finding robust solutions”.
“The Annual Meetings, under the theme ‘Achieving Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition for Africa’, provides Ghana with the opportunity to advance discussions on building resilience, addressing financing gaps, and narrowing its physical and digital infrastructural deficits in tandem with that of other African countries,” he noted.
He added that as the privileged host of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement Secretariat, Ghana is also providing the opportunity to advance the cause of economic integration in response to some of these challenges during the Annual Meetings.
“Indeed, on the sidelines of this meeting, we will also have thirty indigenous industrialists and five FINTECHs showcase their services and products,” he announced.
It will be attended by Ministers of Finance, Governors of central banks, leaders of local and international finance and development organizations, captains of industry, and civil society organisations (CSOs) from the 81 Member States of the AfDB, made up of 54 regional and 27 non-regional member countries.
Partnership
Mr Ofori-Atta also acknowledged the strong partnership between Ghana and AfDB, which had enabled the country undertake significant infrastructural development.
“These include the construction of the Pokuase Interchange, the construction of the Terminal 3 of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), construction of the Awoshie-Pokuase road, Fufulso-Sawla road and the Northern Corridor roads amongst hosts of projects in education, skill training, sanitation, and agriculture,” he pointed out.
To this end, the Minister was confident that the high-level event in Accra would help convey the country’s collective appreciation to the AfDB, as a long-standing strategic partner, and lead to deliberations over potential new projects that will benefit the Ghanaian people.
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