According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the bank’s high five initiative has influenced 335 million people and families throughout African countries.
Dr Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB, said in a statement yesterday that the bank has provided significant value to the continent during the previous six years.
Adesina listed the programs as Lighting and Powering Africa, Feeding Africa, Industrializing Africa, Integrating Africa, and Improving the Quality of Life for Africans.
In 2021, Adesina said, the AfDB had provided 483 million dollars to financial institutions to lend to women enterprises.
”AfDB was ranked by Global Finance as the best multilateral financial institution in the world in 2021. When Covid-19 struck, our Board, based on rigorous risk assessments, approved a crisis response facility of up to 10bn dollars”.
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”We launched a three-billion dollar fight Covid-19 social bond on the global capital markets, the highest ever US dollar-denominated social bond in world history. Our rapid COVID-19 response facility helped stabilising African economies, it trained 130,000 health workers and provided social protection for about 30 million vulnerable households.
”lOur achievements, exceptional management, good governance systems, and delivery of the Bank cannot be denied or misrepresented, based on externally fabricated lies, distortions, misinformation, and deliberately orchestrated campaign of calumny.
We will tell our story, we will not be defined by mischief makers, lies and biases. ”We are proudly African and we will continue to make Africa proud as Africa’s only AAA-rated financial institution,” he said.
Recall that, The African Development Bank (AfDB) will assist Nigeria in developing Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones as part of the country’s efforts to achieve food security.
Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the bank and a former Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria, disclosed this while briefing President Muhammadu Buhari at State House in Abuja on Tuesday.
