AfDB: We’ll leverage private sector to address financial gaps in Africa

African Development Bank (AfDB) says it would leverage the private sector to address the various financial gaps on the continent.

Kelvin Urama, vice-president of economic governance and knowledge management complex at AfDB, spoke on the bank’s plans to improve financing in Africa at a virtual pre-annual meetings news conference on Thursday.

The bank’s annual meetings is scheduled to hold from May 22 to May 27, 2023, in Sham El Sheikh, Egypt.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Mobilising Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa’, Urama said the need for financing in the region was very humongous for the public sector financing to meet.

“This year, the bank will focus on how to leverage the private sector to address the financial gaps for achieving the paramount actions and bring good transitions on the continent,” he said.

“To do this, we have structured five different and very interesting knowledge events for the meeting, one of them is the presidential dialogue.

“This will feature our heads of state having a dialogue with the bank’s president on the changing global financial architecture and the role of the multilateral development banks.

“How do we position multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the MDB reforms within the era of trying to mobilise financing more for Africa to reach all the financing gaps we had already highlighted?”

Urama also said there would be an inauguration of the African economic outlook 2023, which would focus on mobilising private sector financing for climate change and green growth in Africa.

“Here, the report will have key areas on looking at the macro-economic performance and outlook on the continent,” the bank’s vice-president said.

“It will also examine youth innovative financing mechanisms to mobilise private sector financing in Africa for climate and green growth.

“Also, we will talk about how to harness micro capital to address the gap on the continent and innovative financing instruments for crowding in private sector investment in Africa.

“The next is on harnessing micro capital to finance climate change and green growth in Africa, and then we have a study on key actions to achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa.”

This, Urama said, would identify the blueprint for the continent’s development for the next 40 years.

He said it would put Africa on sustained growth of 7 percent to 10 percent gross domestic product (GDP) annually and consistently for the rest of this incubation period of the agenda 2063.

“And ultimately, it will be able to address poverty and all the other development challenges that Africa faces,’’ Urama added.

On his part, Quaynor Solomon, AfDB’s vice-president, private sector, infrastructure and industrialisation complex, called for innovative and creative thinking to address challenges in Africa.

Solomon said the meeting would allow the continent to deliberate on avenues to address all the climate change challenges on the continent.

He noted that it was important for the continent to leverage innovation measures to tackle the issue of climate change in Africa.