Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank

26th May 2017
by secretary

Paepard

22-26 May 2017. Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. In line with the central theme, “Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa,” many of the high-level meetings explored how India and Africa can work together in order to achieve their shared goal of rural and agricultural transformation, which would go a long way in reducing rural poverty and improving the quality of lives of rural people.

A series of regional sessions on India–West Africa Economic Cooperation; India–Central & South Africa Forum on Connectivity; India–East Africa Business Forum; and India–North Africa Trade Forum also feature prominently in the knowledge events of the meetings.

A special session on India-Japan co-operation for the development of Africa was held under the aegis of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), in cooperation with their partner organizations in India on the promotion of African business through private-public partnerships between Japan and India in support of African businesses.

A ministerial roundtable discussion dwelt on developing partnerships between Africa and Asia trade and capital flows between the two continents. Entrepreneurship, private sector development in Africa, Asian lessons on human capital and technology in development as well as regional cooperation and trans-boundary challenges also came up for discussion. Bilateral meetings and briefings by organisations and businesses, as well as expositions were held on the sidelines of the meetings.

The AfDB Annual Meeting ended with call to see the potential of African agriculture

“With 65% of the world’s uncultivated land, Africa will determine the future of food for the world. There is gold in the dirt, if only we will see it. I am convinced that we must change the narrative about African agriculture, which will be a US $1 trillion business by 2030. And the entertainment world agrees with me. One of the results of this Meeting is that we have collectively seen the need to make dramas – not just documentaries – about agriculture, so as to engage a younger audience,” Akinwumi Adesina African Development Bank President

Adesina summarized progress made in the Meetings on the roles of the private sector, young people and women in transforming agriculture to create wealth on the continent. He discussed the Bank’s support for agricultural research (not least through the newly launched Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation Initiative, TAAT), its support for women farmers, and its commitment to heighten the African presence along the entire length of the agricultural value chain, from farm to fork.

“That’s why the Bank will be investing US $24 billion in African agriculture in the next 10 years – a 400% increase on its support to date,” he said. “In Africa, for far too long, farmers have been abandoned. In India’s Green Revolution, farmers were given bold support – in Africa we must do the same.”
Related:
African Economic Outlook: the 2017 edition unveiled
Build on African entrepreneurs to succeed in the continent’s new industrial revolution. This is what emerges from the 2017 edition of the African Economic Outlook, released on 22 May in Ahmadabad, India, on the sidelines of the AfDB’s Annual Meetings. This flagship publication, which annually reviews all 54 African countries, is a joint effort of the Bank, UNDP and OECD.

Read the full report

Source: PAEPARD FEED

Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank

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