AfDB: time to set Africa’s development agenda

Beginning today, Rwanda will for the next five days host the 49th Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) since the Bank’s inception in 1964. The Meetings to be held under the theme: “The Next 50Years: The Africa we Want” will evaluate the Bank’s 50 years of existence and chart the way forward on how African countries can achieve their development aspirations. The New Times’ Collins Mwai spoke to the AfDB Resident Representative Negatu Makonnen, on the objectives of the meetings, how Rwanda stands to benefit as the host nation and insights on the AfBD’s work. The 49th African Development Bank Annual meetings which will double up as the 42nd Africa development fund meeting kick off on Monday, who are the participants expected? We have about 54 regional member countries, each country will be represented by a governor and an official delegation. We expect attendence from prominent business personalities and organisations as it will be an opportunity for them to interact and suggest measures that can enable the continent’s business environment to grow. Academia, youth, women groups and civil society members from across the continent are expected to play a part in the Meetings. The theme of the conference is “The next 50 years: the Africa we want.” There will also be Heads of State present. Participants will evaluate the Bank’s past performance as well as deliberate on the way forward for Africa. There will be several meetings taking place at the forum. What are some of the expectations and discussions you hope to see take place? Participants, Heads of State inclusive, will reflect on the type of Africa we envisage in the different preliminary sessions. We will find out what it takes in terms of leadership and other aspects. We will have a live debate where panelists will face the audience comprising the youth, and women. The discussions will address the various development agenda of various countries. How will Rwanda benefit by hosting the conference? Hosting over 2,500 dignitaries from across Africa and beyond presents great business opportunities to the Rwandan private sector, especially in the tourism and hospitality sector, forex bureaus, transport sector amongst others. More importantly, it presents an opportunity to showcase investment opportunities in Rwanda. The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has a strategy to ensure all the delegates go back with enough information about investment opportunities in the country. It will also be a good chance to advance Rwanda’s strategy to promote conference tourism. The Bank has been in Rwanda for the last 40 years, what are some of your contributions to Rwanda’s development? During the Bank’s partnership with Rwanda, we have given grants totalling to $1.65 billion which have benefited a total of 98 projects. The Bank’s support to the transport sector accounts for a third of its portfolio in Rwanda. Over 250 kilometres of highways have been constructed or improved to help entrepreneurs access markets both, at home and abroad. Close to two million people have benefitted from this. The intervention has significantly reduced travel time, reduced the cost of doing business, and linked Rwanda to her neighbours which has helped boost regional integration. Rwanda is located strategically to be a business hub and link markets in the central and southern part of Africa; this infrastructure upgrade is meant to see Rwanda take advantage of this. Energy is another sector we have been working to develop. We support the Government to meet its energy targets. Currently, Rwanda has a target of generating at least 563 Megawatts of electricity by 2018. We fully support these ambitions. We have assisted in the building of distribution lines (over 400 km) and are also supporting the construction of energy plants. To boost science and technology in the country, the Bank has extended support to Carnegie Mellon University and Kigali Institute of Science and Technology. We have also supported to a tune of about $150m, the Rwanda skills, employability and entrepreneurship programme to enhance skills development for inclusive growth and poverty reduction. Most Rwandans live in the rural areas and are dependent on agriculture as a source of livelihood. We supported agriculture and rural development. We have been putting up infrastructure to develop agriculture like markets, milk collection centres, among others. We are still working on ways to keep supporting the sector to increase the employment opportunities. We are also working hard to develop the private sector since the government cannot develop the country alone. Do you have a long term strategy for Rwanda? The second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy has set the agenda for effective partnership with development partners. In this light, the Bank has been mapped to support Rwanda in three sectors; transport, energy and private sector and youth employment. Scaling up support for the three sectors calls for more resources which we will have to mobilise aggressively We also plan to maintain minimal funding to the traditional sectors we have been supporting like water and sanitation, agriculture and human development. Rwanda is growing fast and, as a development partner, we want to match the pace, especially in terms of programmes support. For the support that you give to the Rwandan government, do you have any monitoring mechanisms in place? The Government of Rwanda has put in place good governance and accountability systems to ensure that all public funds are audited by the Auditor General who submits the final report to Parliament. Each programme we are engaged in is embedded with a result measurement framework that tracks inputs and outcomes which acts as a basis to do thorough impact analysis. This is a standard in all our programmes. Which areas do you think African economies, including Rwanda, should focus on to achieve economic excellence? Africa must work as one through economic integration, otherwise we will continue witnessing development skewed to some parts of the market which limits market opportunities. The recent tripartite arrangement between Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda serves as a good example for other regions on how countries can come together for economic growth. Africa also needs to ensure peace because insecurity is counter-productive in terms of development. This is because conflict scares away investors and destabilises the business environment. The continent also needs to turn the rapid population growth into a demographic dividend. The majority of the continent’s population are unskilled youth, we need to equip them with the required skills so that they become an asset and take advantage of the available opportunities for the continent’s prosperity. Currently the rate of urbanisation is high, and if well managed, it can be a great economic opportunity for Africa’s prosperity. Urbanisation is a source of development and growth. The Africa 2063 Agenda will be endorsed at the Annual Meetings by African Union Commision, Uneca and AfDB which sets the agenda for the next 50 years detailing the projected opportunities in a dynamic Africa. As the Bank takes stock of the past 50 years, what are some of your milestones? As one of the oldest financial institutions in Africa, we have been keen on promoting regional economic integration which is the major driver of the global economy. The Bank’s intervention all over the continent has mainly been in building the required infrastructure to link countries within and beyond. This has been realised through AfDB’s major interventions in building roads, railway networks, water points and air transport in various parts of Africa. The second contribution has been through ‘powering Africa’. We have been a major financier of the energy sector in terms of generation and distribution considering that energy is critical for business and households. We have also significantly contributed to agriculture improvement across the continent so as to provide people with livelihoods and enable Africa feed itself. In all these interventions, we have partnered with the governments. There are a few indicators that the bank has been able to remain a dynamic and relevant institution in a fast changing continent. We have evolved to become an internationally recognised institution with a large capital base. We have grown to become the voice of Africa in several arenas. Over the years, the African Development Bank has grown to become a credible organisation, we are recogonised by all big international financial institutions, not only as a project bank but also as a knowledge institution providing credible knowledge that informs policy making in African countries. Over the years, the Bank has been fine-tuning its areas of intervention to suit the socio-economic development agenda of Africa. We currently have a 10-year strategy that guides the Bank’s support to its member countries. The strategy is anchored on two objectives; inclusive sustainable growth and enhancing green economy. The Bank intends to support economic transformation through supporting infrastructure development, regional integration, private sector development and skills development. We will also keep supporting and advocating for women empowerment as well as agriculture sector for food security.

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AfDB: time to set Africa’s development agenda