The funds will help 20 million African farmers produce an
extra 38 million metric tons of food to address growing fears of starvation and
food insecurity on the continent.
The Bank, which is Africa’s only AAA-rated financial
institution, has consistently maintained this credit rating by all major global
credit rating agencies.
The emergency food production package comes as the African
Development Bank gathers in the Ghanaian capital of Accra for its 2022 Annual
Meetings this week. Delegates will take stock of the Bank’s projects, which
have impacted the lives of 335 million Africans in the last five years, while
looking ahead to new challenges and opportunities.
Overcoming Africa’s challenges includes building back from
Covid-19. Early in the pandemic, the Bank provided a crisis response facility
of up to $10 billion to African countries to help overcome its social and
economic impacts. It also launched a $3 billion Covid-19 social bond on the
global capital markets, at the time, the highest ever US dollar denominated
social bond. According to the Bank’s president, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, this
helped provide social protection to about 30 million vulnerable people.
Adesina said: “Our rapid Covid-19 response facility helped
stabilize African economies. It helped train 130,000 health workers, and
provided advisory support for 300,000 small and medium sized businesses.”
Discussions at the African Development Bank Group Annual
Meetings in Accra will also cover a range of topics including climate change,
where the Bank, together with former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the
Global Center on Adaptation, is mobilizing $25 billion to support climate
adaptation and resilience.
The meetings will also include substantive discussion on
providing increased financial support to women entrepreneurs. The Bank’s
Affirmative Action for Women In Africa is one of its flagship programs.
Adesina said: “With the support of President Emmanuel Macron
and G-7, our Affirmative Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) is raising $5 billion
for women businesses. In 2021, we paid out $483 million to financial
institutions to lend to women businesses. We will lend $500 million for women
in 2022.”
In highlighting these successes, Adesina dismissed recent
critics of the Bank’s management. He points to an independently conducted
survey by a global human resources firm, which found high levels of
satisfaction (85%) among bank staff.
The Bank head says: “Our achievements, exceptional
management, good governance systems, and delivery of the Bank cannot be denied
or misrepresented based on externally fabricated untruths, distortions,
misinformation, and a deliberately orchestrated campaign of calumny to attempt
to tarnish our image.
“We will tell our story. We will not be defined by
mischief-makers, lies and biases. We are proudly African.”
The African Development Bank has 81 stakeholder countries
who support its work. 3,000 participants are expected to attend this week’s
Annual Meetings in Accra.