For the past five decades, the African Development Bank Group has been at the forefront of driving Africa’s economic transformation, leveraging its diverse resources and unique know-how as an indigenous development finance institution.

The Bank has delivered on its goals of reducing poverty and fostering inclusive growth on the continent. We scaled up development support for our 54 regional member countries and recorded remarkable successes in recent years in our renewed push to help deliver life-changing impact to livelihoods.

Overall, the Bank’s investments have benefited millions of Africans through its 10-year strategy which it began implementing from 2013. Here are highlights of the Bank’s achievements:

Landmark General Capital Increase: At an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in October 2019 in Abidjan, Governors of the African Development Bank, representing shareholders from 80 countries, approved a landmark $115 billion increase in capital for the continent’s foremost financial institution.

The increase, the largest in the history of the Bank since its establishment in 1964, more than doubled its capital from $93 billion to $208 billion. This solidifies the Bank’s leadership in development financing for the continent.

Successful African Development Fund (ADF15) replenishment: In December 2019, donors announced a remarkable $7.6 billion to replenish the African Development Fund. The replenishment represented a 35% increase in financing for low-income African countries at the end of the fifteenth replenishment of the African Development Fund, the concessional window of the Bank Group. The ADF contributes to poverty reduction and economic and social development in the 38 least developed African countries by providing concessional funding for projects and programs, as well as technical assistance for studies and capacity-building activities.

Resource mobilization for Women-Owned Businesses at G7 summit:At the G7 summit of world leaders in Biarritz, France, in August 2019, the President of the Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, successfully launched a global campaign of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) to mobilize $3 billion for women entrepreneurs in Africa, with strong support and resources from G7 leaders and nations.

During the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron announced France’s contribution of $135 million to the AFAWA initiative to encourage women’s access to funding in Africa. The amount represents more than half the financial support of $251 million promised by the G7 governments. 

Also, the Bank co-hosted delegations from around the world for the first Global Gender Summit held in Africa, in Kigali, Rwanda. The gathering, attended by the presidents of Ethiopia – Sahle-Work Zewde, and Rwanda, Paul Kagame – moved the needle forward on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Africa and around the world. Several agreements were signed to facilitate project financing for women entrepreneurs in Africa.

2019 Africa Investment Forum (AIF): Following a highly successful inaugural event, the Bank secured more than $40 billion worth of investment interest in less than 72 hours at the second edition of the Africa Investment Forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Forum, Africa’s largest marketplace for mobilizing capital, featured 56 boardroom deals valued at $67.6 billion – a 44% increase from the 2018 debut.

Transparent Institution: The Bank ranks 4th globally in transparency among 45 multilateral and bilateral institutions by Publish What You Fund, an outfit that consists of 19 developed economies. In addition, all the major rating agencies Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, Fitch and the Japanese Credit Rating Agency have assigned it a triple-A rating. The outlook on all the ratings is stable and reflects the Bank’s strong membership support, healthy capital adequacy, preferred creditor status and strong financial condition.

The Bank also recorded a few firsts.

Room2Run: In 2018, the Bank launched Room2Run, a pioneering $1 billion synthetic securitization of a portfolio of its private sector loans to serve as a model for other multilateral development banks and investors as they seek new ways to release much-needed financing to catalyse private capital in developing markets.

COVID-19 Social Bond: In March 2020, the Bank raised an exceptional $3 billion in a three-year bond to help ease the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on livelihoods and Africa’s economies. The Fight Covid-19 social bond garnered interest from central banks and official institutions, bank treasuries, and asset managers, including socially responsible investors, with bids exceeding $4.6 billion. It was the largest dollar-denominated social bond ever launched in international capital markets and the largest US dollar benchmark ever issued by the Bank. It will pay an interest rate of 0.75%.

LSE listing of Social Bond:The Bank celebrated another milestone with the listing of its Fight Covid-19 social bond on the London Stock Exchange on April 3. The bond is now available through its Sustainable Bond Market.

TAAT innovation boosting agriculture: The Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation program (TAAT) is leading the charge in helping to transform local staple crops across the continent, including maize, rice, wheat, cassava, high-iron beans, sorghum, millet, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes as well as livestock and fish. 

TAAT aims to raise food output in Africa by 100 million tons and lift 40 million people out of poverty by 2025 by harnessing high-impact, proven technologies to raise productivity, mitigate risks, and promote diversification and processing.

About the African Development Bank Group
The African Development Bank Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the Bank contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.afdb.org

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Africa must unlock the power of its women and girls if it is to adapt to climate change, cope with disasters and build its green energy sector. 

Katowice14 December 2018 – That is the message from African delegates as the world prepares toimplement the Paris Agreement on climate change in Katowice, Poland, this week.

Research shows that when women are involved in decision making, agreements on the environment are more likely to be ratified and projects around natural resources, such as water, are more likely to succeed. 

If given access to education and finance, African women can contribute to finding technological solutions and driving the continent’s renewable energy industry too. 

“When you empower women in the context of climate change you empower a family, a community and a country,” says Dana Elhassan, senior gender expert at the African Development Bank, which allocates international funds to development projects. 

“You cannot solve a problem with half the team. A lot of the unpaid work that women do, such as collecting firewood and water, and caring for the family, are massively affected by climate change – so we have to make sure adaptation initiatives address their needs, vulnerabilities and potential.”

Women as agents of change

Studies show that when women are part of decision making, ratification of multilateral agreements on the environment are more likely, adds Mafalda Duarte, head of the $8.3 billion Climate Investment Fund, one of the largest climate financing instruments in the world. 

There is also strong evidence that women play a vital role in dealing with disasters by mobilising communities – something that will become increasingly important as climate change advances, she says.  

“Discourse is quite tilted to considering women as victims of climate change – but we are agents of change and if we are perceived as such this will make a big difference,” says Ms Duarte. 

“Our empowerment represents greatly under-utilised opportunities to build our economies and tackle climate change.”

When women are empowered – given access to finance, assets and decision making – there are big impacts across sectors, she adds. 

“Renewable energy is traditionally seen as a male sector but if you are deliberate in giving access to women, they become entrepreneurs and help us push forward that agenda,” says Ms Duarte. 

Women can drive business and technology solutions

When women are empowered equally to men there is a massive leap forward in economic gains: a recent McKinsey study found that if women were participating economically as much as men, they would be adding 28 trillion dollars to global GDP by 2025.

In Africa, lack of access to finance has resulted in an estimated $42 billion financing gap

for women entrepreneurs across business value chains.

Yet unlocking African women’s ingenuity and giving them access to finance could generate technological advancements that help deal with climate change, believes the African Development Bank. 

As mobile phone technology has proven, Africa is capable of leapfrogging into an era of digitisation, which minimises risks and cuts costs of doing business. 

African women have shown potential to compete in this digital work-space – Mfarm, AppsTech, JuaKali, Nandimobile, Hehe Ltd, Obami, DotNxt, are only a few of the women-led tech startups in Africa listed by Forbes.

“If we women are given the right platforms, we will achieve the change we wish to see in the world,” says Ms Duarte. 

Unlocking investment in African women holds incredible return and transformational impact

potential. Women form the backbone of African economies, accounting for a majority of small- and medium-sized businesses and dominating the agriculture sector as primary producers and food processors,

COP24 is the 24th conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This year countries are preparing to implement the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the world’s global warming to no more than 2C. 

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Johannesburg, South Africa, 09 November, 2018 – As project sponsors, borrowers, lenders and investors gathered at the Africa Investment Forum to make deals on investment opportunities, leaders of the continent’s  top agribusiness companies shared their thoughts on the future of the industry. With its vast agricultural potential, Africa’s agribusiness sector is predicted to reach US$1 trillion by 2030. Agribusiness will become the ‘new oil” on the continent, African Investment Forum participants said, fueling the motor of inclusive growth.

“Agriculture is a key priority for the African Development Bank, through our Feed Africa strategy,” said Jennifer Blanke, the African Development Bank Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development.  “Understand that by transforming Africa’s agriculture sector it will become the engine that drives Africa’s economic transformation through increased income, better jobs higher on the value chain, improved nutrition, and so on,” she said in her opening remarks at an Africa Investment Forum session titled, Agribusiness: investment conversation with industry leaders.

Some agribusiness leaders said there is a need to invest US$45 billion per year to harness the power of agriculture and move up the value chain to create jobs and wealth. At present, only US$7 billion is invested in the sector. Investments from the private sector, leaders said, will create the adequate environment and enhance the emergence of locally owned agro-processing industries, capable of creating jobs and increasing incomes in rural Africa. The continent could become a net exporter of agricultural commodities, replacing US$110 billion worth of imports, as well as doubling its share of market value for select processed commodities.

The full-capacity session was a highlight of the Africa Investment Forum, organised by the African Development Bank. The event brought representatives from multilateral financial institutions, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, government officials and private investors to Johannesburg, South Africa for three days.

Participants in the agribusiness session discussed the industry’s entire value chain. Leading the ‘fireside chat’ was a roundtable of experts that included Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of the Dangote Group; Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Finance of Nigeria; William Asiko, CEO, Grow Africa; John George Coumantaros, Chairman, Flour Mills of Nigeria and TP Nchocho, CEO, Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa

“We need to do the research to produce the right solutions to the issues we might face along the value chain. Youth are particularly involved in this aspect as they know how to develop tools addressing issues such as water management and release”, said Aliko Dangote.

Agribusiness can also promote industrialisation and urban employment, break the ‘productivity gap’ of development, and improve the quality of life for all Africans. Attendees said Africa’s agricultural potential needs to be unlocked.

Session participants said they want to bring African agriculture to the next level. For the small and medium scale farmers, the main challenge remains access to finance. Zainab Shamsuna, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance urged investors and development partners to adapt their policies to accommodate more participants in the agriculture value chain,

“I want us to eat what we grow and consume what we produce”, Shamsuna said.

In closing the session, Edward Mabaya, Manager of Agribusiness Development at the African Development Bank highlighted the vast investment opportunities in Africa’s agribusiness including seed, fertilizer, mechanization, processing and storage.

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Johannesburg, November 7, 2018 – The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and USAID’s Power Africa initiative have today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will finance power projects in 22 African countries.

The memorandum was signed at African Development Bank’s inaugural Africa Investment Forum, where emphasis on investment is at the core of tens of transactions anticipated to take place.

At the signing, the Trade and Development Bank’s President and Chief Executive, Mr. Admassu Tadesse, said, “TDB is very pleased to deepen its existing partnership with USAID in further support of the Power Africa Initiative, which resonates strongly with TDB’s strategy and mandate. We are proud to count USAID among our growing number of cooperating trade and development finance partners in the US.”

As a new entrant to the program this collaboration makes TDB the 18^th development partner of the Power Africa initiative. This formalises an already existing relationship between Power Africa and TBD, which has been working together to finance the power sector, and will now further strengthen the commitment to powering Africa through local institutions.

The Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of USAID’s Africa Bureau, Mr. Ramsey Day, said, “we are excited to welcome TDB as our 18^th development partner. We applaud the Bank’s commitment to increase its exposure in the energy sector from its current 8% to 20% of its portfolio, the equivalent of bringing $400 million new dollars towards power sector financing”.

At the plenary session, some of the key take away messages exemplified by this MoU signing were to scale up, speed up, and synergise the opportunities for investment at the Africa Investment Forum.

About TDB

Established in 1985, the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) is a multilateral, treaty-based development financial institution, with assets of over US$ 5 billion. By providing different types of financing, TDB fosters trade, regional economic integration and sustainable development, prioritizing projects with cross-border impact. www.tdbgroup.org

About Power Africa

Power Africa is a U.S. government-led initiative, coordinated by USAID, to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. Power Africa has more than 160 private and public sector partners, 12 U.S. government agency partners, and 18 development partners who to date have helped bring over 9,500 MW and more than 12.5 million connections to financial close. https://www.usaid.gov/powerafrica

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Forum to advance projects to bankable stages, raise capital, and accelerate financial closure of deals

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 05 November, 2018 – The Africa Investment Forum kicked off on Monday with a media briefing in the South African capital. The game changing event, aimed at attracting multi-billion-dollar deals across the continent, is set to usher in a new era for Africa’s investment landscape.

Regional and global investors and institutional investors, private sector leaders, prominent government officials, and representatives of State are converging in South Africa, for what is billed as an unprecedented gathering to mobilize and crowd in global investment capital for the continent’s ambitious development agenda.

Dubbed by the African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina as the “collective deal of the century for investment in and the development of Africa,” the forum will focus on advancing projects to bankable stages, raising capital and accelerating the financial closure of deals.

 “This is the beginning of a new conversation, a new way of doing things,” Victor Oladokun, the African Development Bank Director of Communications told reporters, a day before the Forum, which will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

South African Deputy Director of the National Treasury Vuyelwa Vumendlini said the Africa Investment Forum provides a continental complement to the country’s recent investment forum which successfully attracted more than 200 billion Rand in investments.

The Government of South Africa, the African Development Bank and several multi-lateral development partners are hosting the Forum expected to become a key springboard for investment and an annual event.

Global financial institutions such as Africa Finance Corporation, Development Bank of South Africa, Africa 50, Afreximbank, European Investment Bank, Trade and Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, have come together to form solid strategic alliances around this new venture.

The Africa Investment Forum, is a unique platform where already curated projects, advanced and de-risked and are brought in front of investors. This innovative partnership of key global and continental players will focus on transactions and deals, Oladokun said.

Between US $130-170 billion a year is needed to finance infrastructure for Africa’s growing population, according to the African Development Bank’s Economic Outlook 2018. While global assets under management amount to an estimated US$131 trillion dollars, most of that is not invested in Africa; even one percent of that could provide the investment gap Africa needs.

“There is an urgent need to close the gap and for that to happen ‘it has to be business unusual. This is the first and biggest African investment market place, nothing like this has even been done before,” Oladokun, told reporters.

Guateng Province officials and government representatives in attendance included Muzi Mathema, of Guateng Growth and Development Agency, Ms Vuli Vumendlini, Deputy Director of the Nationa Treasury and Ayanda Holo, Director of Media engagement for the South African government. African Development Bank Executive Director Mmakgoshi Lekhethe was also in attendance.

Ronnie Ntuli, Executive Chairman Thelo, described the Forum as “a unique opportunity for Africans to partner with global capacity and the private sector. “It is an investor market…where all these partners converge to take advantage of tremendous opportunities,” he said.

Africa Investment Forum moving Africa’s investment agenda forward

African businesses are rapidly growing in number and sophistication, presenting excellent investment opportunities with relatively high returns, but the challenge of positioning themselves for consideration in front of institutional investors and global corporates remains.

The Forum has curated a total pipeline of 230 projects worth over US$208 billion spanning several sectors – energy, infrastructure, transport and utilities, industry, agriculture, ICT and Telecoms, water and sanitation and health and education.

Twenty-eight boardroom sessions will curate, screen and ensure the projects are bankable and reach financial close. A total of 61 deals estimated at more than US$40 billion will feature in Boardroom Sessions, while another US$28 billion worth of deals will be showcased to investors at a marketplace Gallery Walk.

The Forum also includes a co-guarantee platform that will develop and deploy innovative instruments to de-risk private sector investments at scale, thus boosting investor confidence.

Discussions will focus on specific projects, sectors, investors, and themes. Others will have country or regional focus. Co-financing and collaborations between investors will also be a key focus area at this event.

The inaugural Africa Investment Forum will feature a session on Championing Investments− an investment conversation with African Heads of State to highlight concrete and transformative actions for a new business landscape in Africa, including collective efforts to facilitate private investments.

The Africa Investment Forum takes place from November 7 to 9, 2018 at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg.

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Commercial production to commence from next financial year

Mumbai October 24, 2018 – Kilitch Drugs, one of the leading listed pharmaceutical Indian exporters is all set to boost its expansion plans in Africa with its first manufacturing plant in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.

The company has been successfully operating in the continent for three decades in providing pharmaceutical solutions with more than 200 products registered and 250+ under registration.

With an annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 10% since 2013, Ethiopia has been a centre of focus for Kilitch in exporting and marketing drug formulations in solid, liquid and parenteral dosage forms. The company also has established and expanded operations across key African countries.

Mr. Bhavin Mehta, Director of Kilitch Drugs states, “We are highly optimistic with the move of setting up our first manufacturing plant in the African market. We chose Ethiopia since it is politically the most stable country in the continent.  We are confident of the beginning of the plant’s operations by mid-2019”.

“The depreciation in the rupee has surged our exports to record high rising to Rs 43.51 cr in FY2017-18 from Rs 23.67 cr in FY2016-17 and; contributed 90 % of our total revenues, he further added.

The manufacturing plant has approximately completed 60% of its the construction with more machineries and peripherals started to arrive at the plant. The production from the Kilitch’s first plant is likely to commence from next financial year.

The company expects to generate a revenue of 500 crores in next 5 years as it is bullish on the African markets. With the sole concentration on its upcoming plant, the management will look forward to replicating the Ethiopian model to the rest of Africa.

About Kilitch Drugs

Kilitch Drugs was incorporated in May 1992 as a public limited company. The company went public in February 1994 to set up a pharmaceutical formulation plant at Thane to manufacture pharmaceutical products in the form of injectables. Company believes Africa is the pharma market for next decade & working towards that goal by registering as many products possible to have a proper inroad in various east & west African countries.

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Partnership to Leverage Altizon’s IIoT Technologies and Aeris’ IoT Services Platform to Expand Availability of Robust and Distinct IoT Solutions for Manufacturing Enterprises

SCOTTS VALLEY, PUNE and DELHI, India, Sept. 18, 2018 – Aeris, a preferred Internet of Things (IoT) technology partner for the enterprise, and Altizon, a global industrial IIoT (Industrial IoT) platform company today announced a strategic partnership integrating Altizon’s industry leading machine learning and IoT Edge technologies and Aeris’ IoT Services platform.

Aeris offers end-to-end IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions and services for the automobile, insurance, healthcare, utilities, and manufacturing industries. Its comprehensive Aeris® Mobility IoT Platform (AMP) helps enterprises enhance revenue, create new services and business models. Aeris allows enterprises to evangelize and embark on their digital transformation journey across a portfolio of business solutions. The company has successfully created unique IoT ecosystem for enterprises, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), technologists, system integrators and solution providers across vertical sectors. Aeris empowers organizations to optimize human intervention and attain real-time remote monitoring of machines, equipment, and other assets along with predictive and preventive maintenance of various products and assets within enterprises.

With a global footprint of more than 100 enterprise users, Altizon is a leading Industrial IoT platform provider recognized by Gartner in its Magic Quadrant for IIoT Platforms and by other leading analyst firms including Forrester Research, Frost & Sullivan, VDC Research, BCG, and MachNation. Altizon’s proven technology helps enterprises accelerate their Smart Manufacturing initiatives, modernize Asset Performance Management services and launch new business models for service delivery, among other processes. Altizon’s proven technology is successfully being used in a number of industries, including the automotive, tire, steel, chemical, energy and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) markets.

• Dr. Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar, President, Aeris India

“Our partnership with Altizon enables us to expand upon our offering to our manufacturing clients with end-to-end solutions that transform their factories into a smart manufacturing facilities. Through complementary integration of our Aeris IoT Service Platform and Altizon’s Datonis Industrial IoT Technology Platform, we now have the capability to deliver comprehensive and distinct IoT solutions for the complete manufacturing value chain. Our partnership clearly brings a measurable competitive advantage to our customers.”

• Vinay Nathan, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Altizon

“With the IoT technology, talent, experience and expertise on the Altizon and Aeris teams, we fully expect to deliver best-in-class IoT solutions that not only improve, but digitally transform, our customers’ businesses like never before. We are proud to be partnering with Aeris to help customers take advantage of the power of IoT to create new revenue streams and service opportunities while building customer engagement and loyalty.”

About Aeris

Aeris is a global technology partner with a proven history of helping companies unlock the value of IoT. For more than a decade, we’ve powered critical projects for some of the most demanding customers of IoT services. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Aeris strives to fundamentally improve businesses by dramatically reducing costs, accelerating time-to-market, and enabling new revenue streams. Built from the ground up for IoT and road tested at scale, Aeris IoT Services are based on the broadest technology stack in the industry, spanning connectivity up to vertical solutions. As veterans of the industry, we know that implementing an IoT solution can be complex, and we pride ourselves on making it simpler.

About Altizon

Altizon is the industrial IoT company. It empowers Industrial Digital Revolutions globally by helping enterprises use machine data to drive business decisions. With a global footprint of over 100 enterprise users, Altizon is a leading Industrial IOT platform provider as recognized by Forrester, Frost & Sullivan, VDC Research, BCG, and most recently by Gartner in its Magic Quadrant for IIoT Platforms. For more info: www.altizon.com

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Beijing, China, 5 September 2018 – The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has urged Chinese business leaders to attend the Africa Investment Forum scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 7-9 November 2018.

Adesina made the call while addressing delegates at the 6th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs, which took place on the sidelines of the 2018 Beijing Summit, attended by leaders from 53 African countries and China.

“I am sure you all know Africa is the place to be. African economies are growing well and the GDP growth rate is projected to average 4.1% this year,” he said.

 Akinwumi had lively exchanges with high-level officials and business leaders from China, led by Vice-Premier Liu He, Governor Yi Gang of the People’s Bank of China, and the President of China Development Bank, Zheng Zhijie.

Responding to questions by China Economic News (CEN) on how China could be unique to Africa, Adesina said, “China doesn’t just promise, China delivers.”

In another interview, with China Daily, he noted: “There’s a perfect alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and the ‘High 5s of the African Development Bank Group.” The Bank is already discussing with China Development Bank about formulating large-scale projects, which can fit in the both of the frameworks.”

 The Bank President also described the relationship between China and Africa as a mutually reinforced partnership, noting that there are 10,000 Chinese companies and 1.3 million Chinese people throughout Africa.

 Adesina cited significant trade imbalance as a challenge to be tackled. While nearly 90% of China’s exports to African countries are high-value-added products such as  machinery and equipment, 75% of Africa’s exports are raw materials. He therefore called on Chinese companies to invest, and not just contract or provide loans to Africa’s public sector.

Highlighting energy and the agriculture and food sectors as opening vast opportunities and potential to China and the world, Adesina expressed hopes for a strong representation by Chinese businesses at the upcoming African Investment Forum in South Africa.

“This is not a talk-show, it is all about transactions. US$92 billion portfolios are already set on this platform,” Adesina said.

  The Africa Investment Forum will convene project sponsors, borrowers, lenders and investors, necessary for accelerating investments in Africa. The three-day event will unite global pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other financial sector investors.

The Forum will also bring together a network of financial institutions with instruments to de-risk selected investment opportunities.

DurinG his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC), President Xi Jinping referred to the Africa Investment Forum as a concrete step for “building a shared future.”

Jinping pledged to extend a US$60 billion financing package and US$10 billion investment in Africa over the next three years.

China-Africa trade amounted to US$174 billion in 2017, a huge increase from just over US$10 billion in 2000. Chinese foreign direct investments in Africa have risen from US$10 billion in 2010 to over US$60 billion in 2017.

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Addressing a standing room only crowd of global agriculture experts at the FAO headquarters in Rome, 2017 World Food Prize Laureate and President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina,says the answer is a resounding yes!

He believes Africa does not need aid but disciplined investments. According to this grandson of a subsistence farmer, he says the time has come to view investment and development opportunities in Africa through a totally different lens.

With over 800 million people worldwide suffering from hunger and more than two billion affected by malnutrition, food insecurity remains a real threat to global development.

Adesina, who is making a global pitch for renewed visionary leadership and strategic alliances, “the future of food in the world will depend on what Africa does with Agriculture.”

The African Development Bank, which he leads, envisions a food secure continent which uses advanced technologies, creatively adapts to climate change, and develops a whole new generation of what he describes as ‘agripreneurs’ – empowered youth and women who he expects to take agriculture to the next level.

By 2050, an additional 38 million African will be hungry. The paradox of lack in the midst of plenty, and Africa’s growing youth bulge are some of the reasons why Adesina’s sense of urgency is resonating with numerous government, private sector, and multilateral leaders during recent European and Asian trips. The banker and 2017 World Food Prize Laureate will be the first to admit that he considers himself the ‘evangelist-in-chief’ for a food secure Africa.

Africa continues to import what it should be producing, spending $35 billion on food imports each year, a figure that is expected to rise to $110 billion in 2025 if present trends continue.

A few days later, Adesina joined Rockefeller Foundation President Raj Shah, Unilever CEO Paul Polman, and 2018 World Food Prize nominees Lawrence Haddad and David Navarro, among other prominent global academic, development, and agriculture experts at Wageningen University and Research, in the Netherlands, to make the case for urgent collective action by State and non-State players to accelerate Africa’s agricultural growth and transformation.

Africa receives only 2 percent of the $100 billion annual revenues from chocolates globally. Adesina tells his audience that “adding value to what nations produce, is the secret to their wealth. Producing chocolate instead of simply exporting cocoa beans does not require rocket science.”

To expand opportunities for youth, women, and private sector players, Adesina is on a global mission to promote and seek support for the bank’s  Affirmative Finance for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program which aims to mobilize $3 billion to support women entrepreneurs who historically lack access to finance, land, and land titles; a $300 million ENABLE Youth program to develop the next generation of agribusiness and commercial farmers for Africa; and a new global investment marketplace, the African Investment Forum, which will be held in Johannesburg November 7-9.

In separate meetings with Sigrid A.M. Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, in the Hague; Peter van Mierlo, CEO of the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), key private sector players, and members of the Dutch Foreign Affairs Advisory Council, Adesina said Africa and its partners must seize unprecedented opportunities for innovative partnerships and increased development impact.

Mierlo believes, “a huge benefit for Africa is that it can skip development cycles that often almost all developed countries had to go through, by deploying new technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture”.

In a continent where more than 640 million are without electricity, Adesina says the private sector is key to Africa’s development in Africa’s energy and agriculture sectors.

“If Africa is going to turn the tide of irregular migration, this is critical. There are three ways in which we can collaborate: either through the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility, Africa 50 – a private equity institution which has raised more than US$ 850 million from 22 countries, and the new Africa Investment Forum.”

Adesina, recognizes that the lack of electricity is Africa’s biggest development impediment. The Bank’s new and ambitious Desert-to-Power initiative which aims to generate 10,000MW of power across Africa’s Sahel region will be critical to reducing migration and climate change impacts. We will do this through a blended finance mechanism with guarantees”, Mr. Adesina said.

Speaking to a High-level Roundtable of Dutch Business Leaders at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), informed key private sector leaders that “governance structures and business regulatory environments are changing in Africa. Indeed, several African countries have already made significant progress in improving their general business and investment environments. Africa is doing better than some of the Asian countries,” he reminded his audience. “In the energy sector, the African Development Bank is investing $12 billion over the next 5 years, with the goal of leveraging $40-50 billion; and an additional $US 24 billion, over ten years, in agriculture to implement its Feed Africa Strategy.”

Agriculture steadily taking center-stage

The strategy is already bearing fruit with the establishment of Staple Crop Processing Zones in several African countries, including Ethiopia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique, with a plan to reach 15 countries in a few years.

Strategically located in and around rural farming communities Adesina says “these agriculture zones will form the nucleus of a new wave of agro-industries and greenfield ventures, attracting agripreneurs, biotechnology firms, intellectual and capital investments. They will also ensure that foods are processed and packaged right where they are produced, rather than in urban centers far removed from centers of production.”

Described as a visionary optimist by many colleagues, Adesina believes the bank’s policies and investments will help turn rural areas from zones of economic misery into zones of economic prosperity.

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Wageningen, Netherlands, 27 July 2018

VALUE4HER a new CTA project will empower women entrepreneurs working in the agricultural sector – agripreneurs – by giving them the skills, knowledge and access to markets, finance and services they need to build their businesses. The project is calling for women-led agribusinesses to register to become part of the first intelligence network targeting women-led agribusinesses in Africa.

“Women are key actors in agriculture, but benefit little from high-value activities,” says Sabdiyo Dido Bashuna, senior technical adviser, value chains and agribusiness, at the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).

Critical challenges for women include access to markets and market intelligence, access to finance and other business services, and the technical, management and leadership skills needed to drive an enterprise forwards.

VALUE4HER has launched a call for women-led agribusinesses in southern and eastern Africa to register for an agribusiness intelligence network targeting women-led agribusinesses. The aim is to foster better links with markets, supply chains and other service providers, including financing partners. Agribusinesses that register will also be eligible to participate in the project’s activities, including training and the chance to apply for a competitive grant aimed at spurring innovation.

To register with VALUE4HER, go to the following links:
Eastern Africa: https://goo.gl/forms/d8H1vWXD51PKNcUz1
Southern Africa: https://goo.gl/forms/7Bo5BgZEeE3Fb6Dx1

VALUE4HER a joint initiative of CTA, the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) and the African Women in Agribusiness Network (AWAN), will help women to develop agribusinesses and to derive more income from agri-food markets. “We want to bring in more young women to be job creators and not just job seekers,” said Irene Ochem, founder and CEO of AWIEF, at the launch of the project.

CTA has extensive experience in working with women-led businesses in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific, including the Caribbean Network of Rural Women Producers (CANROP) and Samoa-based Women in Business Development Incorporated (WIBDI), as well as with farmer-led agricultural enterprises in Africa.

VALUE4HER will focus on linking women-led agribusinesses with competitive high-value regional and global markets and improving women business leader’s technical and managerial skills. The project will also facilitate innovative business linkages with other women-led agribusinesses and help agripreneurs to link with women suppliers, to benefit other women in the value chain. In addition, VALUE4HER will use knowledge and targeted advocacy to address economic barriers to women’s entrepreneurship (e.g. equitable access to finance), as well as highlight and reinforce market practices that enable women to succeed.

About CTA

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food security, resilience and inclusive economic growth in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific through innovations in sustainable agriculture. CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.

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