Afdb Archives - Inside Business Africa

Sep242021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Tanzania: African Development Fund approves $116 million loan to upgrade southern road corridor

Business, Economy

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund on Wednesday approved a loan of around $116 million to the Tanzanian government to upgrade a 160-km Mnivata-Newala-Masasi road corridor in the southern part of the country. The Bank’s loan represents 98.71% of the project cost; the government of Tanzania will provide the remaining 1.29% in funding. The project will upgrade the roadway, including the 84-meter Mwiti bridge, to bituminous standard. The works also have social components, including the provision of potable water, education and medical infrastructure, the establishment of cashew nut processing units, and extension of entrepreneurial training to women and youth. The project will advance Tanzania’s current five-year Development Plan (2021-2026) and aligns with the Ba...

Aug122021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

African Development Bank Coding for Employment program marks milestone: 130,000 users across Africa

Business, Innovation

On International Youth Day, the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) announces the enrolment of 130,000 users in its Coding for Employment digital skills program. The milestone comes as Coding for Employment works to equip African youth with information and communication technology, entrepreneurship and soft-skills training to compete in a digital economy. The program’s online platforms offer in-demand technical courses such as web development, design, data science and digital marketing – for free. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in lockdowns and school closures across the continent, the Coding for Employment platforms experienced dramatic increases in the number of users. During a one-week period in September 2020, registrations skyrocketed by 38.5%. ...

Jul192021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Close partnership between India and Africa could improve the welfare of 2.5 billion people post Covid-19, participants at 2021 Indo-Africa business conclave say

Business, Growth & Insight, Health

The Covid-19 pandemic has provided the impetus for a stronger partnership between India and Africa with potential benefits to both as they build back sustainably after the crisis, experts attending the 16th CII-Exim Bank Digital Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership (https://bit.ly/3rgmnDG) affirmed. Speaking at the virtual event’s opening, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India External Affairs Minister said the two sides must reinforce collaboration in public health, digital delivery, capacity building, and the green economy - “our goals must be to use these new tools and practices for better delivery on the ground.” “India has always maintained that progress in the world is contingent on the development of the global south, nowhere is that more evident than in Africa, and that is ...

Jul152021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Poor infrastructure costing Nigeria $17.1b yearly, says AfDB

Economy

The African Development Bank (AfDB) says Nigeria loses about four percent of her Gross Domestic Product growth annually because of poor infrastructure. This amounts to $17.1 billion yearly using the 2020 GDP figures. The AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said this as a panelist at an investors Webinar to showcase the investment opportunities from the Federal Government’s reform and privatization. Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit he lamented “is one of the main constraints to industrial development and national competitiveness. Estimates indicate that Nigeria’s infrastructure constraints cost the country around four percent of its yearly Gross Domestic Product growth”. Given the huge amounts needed to bridge the country’s infrastructure gap, which is about $100billion annua...

Jul82021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

African Development Bank bolsters women-empowered businesses with $50 million loan to FCMB bank

Agriculture, Business, Innovation

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB.org) has approved a loan of $50 million to Nigeria’s First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to channel to local enterprises and women-empowered businesses in the agribusiness, manufacturing, healthcare and renewable energy sectors. Thirty percent of the funds, which are intended to mitigate effects of the challenging Covid-19 environment, are earmarked for underserved women-empowered businesses. In addition, the Bank will provide a technical assistance grant of $200,000 through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative supported by the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative. The grant will complement the loan by enabling First City Monument Bank to provide non-financial services, including tra...

Jul82021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

African Development Bank to support creation of agricultural value chains in Côte d’Ivoire – President Adesina

Agriculture, Business, Economy

The African Development Bank (AfDB.org) will support Côte d'Ivoire in creating agricultural value chains to create more jobs and make economic growth more inclusive, the bank’s president, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, said on Tuesday during a meeting with Ivorian Prime Minister Patrick Achi. "The African Development Bank will support the Ivorian government in the creation of agricultural value chains in banana, mango, palm oil, cashew, coffee and cocoa products ... There will be investments to transform rural areas into areas of wealth" for the people, Adesina said. Since 2015, the African Development Bank, whose head office is based in Abidjan, has quadrupled its investments in Côte d'Ivoire, bringing its portfolio to $2.7 billion. The African Development Bank will support the Ivoria...

Jul32021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Meet the African companies making pioneering strides in the carbon credits space

Business

According to a World Bank report released last year, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2020”, there has been significant progress in the fight against global warming, but there is much more to be done. More than 70 countries have committed to working toward net zero emissions by 2050, and to enhance their international climate pledges under the Paris Agreement. How these government and private sector pledges will be translated into action will be crucial in ensuring whether global warming can be confined to below two degrees Celsius. Carbon emissions trading, including “cap and trade” systems, are key ways of reducing emissions. Africa accounts for only two per cent of trading in the global carbon market, with South Africa and Nigeria leading the way. There are, however, moves...

Jul22021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa program showcased at Generation Equality Forum

Business, Economy

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB.org) President, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, joined French President Emmanuel Macron and others at the Generation Equality Forum taking place in Paris this week. He highlighted the role of the Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative in growing the continent’s women-led businesses. AFAWA is a pan-African initiative whose goal is to unlock financing to bridge the $42 billion financing gap that women entrepreneurs face in Africa. “Women run Africa and they should run Africa…they create more businesses than men - but the problem they have is that they do not have access to finance,” Adesina said to a socially distanced audience that included heads of state and government, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ...

Apr282021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Agriculture: Kogi State secures $100 million AfDB loan

Agriculture

The Kogi state government announced that it has secured a $100 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the purpose of funding Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) in Kogi. This was disclosed in a statement by Commissioner for Finance, Mr Asiru Idris, in Lokoja on Tuesday. The Commissioner added that the project will be a boost to improving production and employment in the state for 2 million people and also open the state up for private investments, citing that 280 hectares of land would be acquired in 5 local government for the scheme “The project will create employment for two million people in the state and by extension, curb poverty, reduce youth restiveness and open doors for private investors,” he said. He also added that the scheme wou...

Apr232021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Leaders Summit on Climate: African Development Bank President says the continent is “ground zero” of the crisis as major economies boost climate targets

Business

President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina on Thursday joined 40 heads of state and government at the Leaders Summit on Climate, where the United States, Japan and Canada announced ambitious climate targets to address the escalating emergency. United States President Joe Biden said the US would aim to cut carbon emissions by 50% to 52% from 2005 levels by 2030. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau upgraded their nations’ targets to more than 40% over the same period. The United States is hosting the two-day virtual summit. It coincided with Earth Day on Thursday and gave a platform to a diverse range of voices, particularly those from developing countries that have been directly affected by climate-linked disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic. Bid...