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Africa to attain food security under 5 years— AfDB

Published

1 year ago

September 23, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

The African Development Bank (AfDB) says its $25 billion objective for food security in Africa is “well on track”.

AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina stated this on behalf of the bank on Friday.

According to Adesina, 30 African countries have helped produce some $12 billion worth of food, which is capable of ending food crisis in the continent.

“As far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t be talking about food security in Africa more than five years from now. There’s no reason for it,” he told Reuters. “We have the technology and the financing to do it at scale.”

Adesina in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly brought up the expansion of special agro-industrial processing zones, which in Nigeria alone might increase from covering eight states to 35 after a recent request. He said the developments were in rural areas where infrastructure development were being prioritised in order to attract food and agricultural businesses.

“Twenty-seven more states in Nigeria made a request to us to continue to support them in this particular area,” Adesina said.

Before governments gather in late November for international climate talks in Dubai, Adesina continues, he anticipates the International Monetary Fund board to adopt plans to channel $100 billion in funding to vulnerable nations through multilateral development banks.

“This is the way for us to crack how to get more resources, at scale,” he said. “For the African Development Bank, a $20 billion allocation channeled into us, automatically becomes up to $80 billion for Africa,” Adesina said, pointing to the bank’s three-to-four-times leverage capacity.

He also called for recapitalizing the bank after the last round in 2019 as it looks to eventually become a $100 billion lender. Its lending portfolio closed 2022 at $27.5 billion.

“The ambition is there with our shareholders. Now we’ve got to make sure that we just work this out and see where there’s a comfort zone for everybody”, he said.

Related Topics:AFDB Africa Featured FOOD SECURITY

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

3 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.