The African Development Bank Group plans to hold discussions on the role that multilateral development banks can play in implementing a new structure that goes beyond the financial aspect, ahead of its Annual Meetings from May 22-26, 2023 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
A statement by the bank, today, Friday, stated that international organizations should take advantage of their resources, by engaging governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders to bring about meaningful change, otherwise, the less developed economies will become more vulnerable.
From a development financing perspective, the main issue that will undoubtedly be addressed during this event is to improve coordination among the multilateral development banks.
In Africa, the African Development Bank has been able to build knowledge capital on global development priorities, and on the ground it deals with many bilateral or multilateral development financing mechanisms.
Another issue is the demand for better representation of African countries in development financing structures, where the panellists will also be able to address the possibility of promoting increased transparency and global coordination among creditors to promote orderly restructuring of sovereign debt in Africa.
The African Development Bank does not hide its willingness to play a leading role in moving this issue forward, but to achieve this, the Bank as a reference multilateral development institution on the African continent must continue to demonstrate its ability to further improve its institutional capabilities, enhance transparency and accountability, as well as coordination With regional and national institutions to better respond to emerging challenges.
In this sense, the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, and the US candidate for the presidency of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, made a call for a renewed partnership. During a visit to the headquarters of the African Foundation in Abidjan, Banga talked about the need for the World Bank Group to develop a strong partnership with the African Development Bank Group in order to achieve transformational results.
Adesina agreed that the World Bank and the African Development Bank should find a new way to work together, saying: “It goes beyond the financial side, and it’s more about how we work together to improve resources by engaging governments, the private sector and other stakeholders to bring about meaningful change.”
Hence, the two officials considered that the private sector could play a major role in mobilizing the necessary capital resources. To ensure great economic development. This includes private sector capital as well as its ability to innovate, which is essential to addressing many challenges, a vision that aligns perfectly with the theme of the 2023 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group, which is to mobilize private sector financing for climate and green growth in Africa.